Since the start of these S&B events – some 6 years ago – Dalibor produced twelve puzzles for the occasion.
Here is No 13: Dalibor @ Macclesfield 2017
If anyone still likes to attempt this crossword, click on the link and do not read any further yet.
This time Dalibor gave us just a plain crossword – no theme, no nina, no Macclesfield, no nothing.
A bit of sex, no drugs and a lot of rock ‘n’ roll (including the ones in 19d and 25/4 🙂 ).
As ever, definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
The completed grid can be found at the end of the blog.
| Across | ||
| 1 | STANDS BY | Sunday Times describing skirts of tennis champions (6,2) |
| S (Sunday) + BY (times), together around T AND S (the ‘skirts’ of ‘tennis’) | ||
| 5 | IMPALA | Devil-like creature with horns (6) |
| IMP (devil) + A LA (like) An impala is an African antelope with curved horns. |
||
| 10 | RASTA | For a start, cover Bob Marley, to name one (5) |
| Hidden answer [cover]: For a start | ||
| 11 | REASON OUT | Following argument, find a way to get so near (6,3) |
| Reverse anagram: (REASON)* with the anagram indicator ‘out’ can lead to ‘so near’ In the surface ‘argument’ is probably meaning ‘quarrel’, for the definition it surely is ‘discussion based on logic’. |
||
| 12 | FORGATHER | Meet priest holding sex party, ultimately banned (9) |
| FATHER (priest) around ORG[y] (sex party, minus the last letter) | ||
| 13 | LAGER | On reflection, Imperial Stout is stronger than this (5) |
| Reversal [on reflection] of REGAL (imperial) For beer lovers, here’s more on Imperial Stout . |
||
| 14 | MIKADO | Small car seen on motorway – make: Japanese (6) |
| MI (motorway, M1) + KA (small car, a Ford model), then + DO (make) To be clear, a Ford Ka is not Japanese …. (but a Mikado is/was). |
||
| 15 | WIGGINS | Model stripped in front of Sir Bradley (7) |
| [t]WIGG[y] (model, minus the first and last letters) + IN + S[ir] Oh dear! Did she? |
||
| 18 | BOYZONE | British Gas infiltrated by unknown Irish group (7) |
| B (British) + OZONE (gas) around Y (unknown) | ||
| 20 | CUT OFF | Short goodbye message to females in isolation (3,3) |
| CU (text message language for ‘see you’ (goodbye)) + TO + F,F (females) | ||
| 22 | IN FOR | Due to get millions stolen from shop (2,3) |
| INFORM (shop) minus M (millions) | ||
| 24 | OAST HOUSE | Symbol of Kent has to change: flower should be added (4,5) |
| (HAS TO)* + OUSE (flower, a river) [* = change] | ||
| 25,4 | GIVE A WIDE BERTH TO | Avoid being a bit overweight, Ed Balls! (4,1,4,5,2) |
| (A BIT OVERWEIGHT ED)* [* = balls] Oh dear! Is he? |
||
| 26 | DONNA | Summer back in the year 500? (5) |
| ANNO (in the year) + D (500), together reversed [back] Donna Summer (1948-2012), Queen of the Dancefloor. |
||
| 27 | STROLL | When cycling, provocative persons use feet (6) |
| TROLLS (provocative persons) with the letters moving around [cycling] Not much of a cycle as only the S is going to the front. |
||
| 28 | ANYWHERE | Happy New Year, around home or in whatever place (8) |
| (NEW YEAR)* around H (home) [* = happy] H for ‘home’ as, for example, in football league tables. |
||
| Down | ||
| 1 | STRIFE | Common way to overcome conflict (6) |
| RIFE (common) with ST (way, street) going on top of it | ||
| 2 | ABSURDITY | Sailor’s original song one tenor dismissed as rubbish (9) |
| AB’S (sailor’s) + UR (original) + DI[t]TY (song, with one T (tenor) removed) | ||
| 3 | DEAD AS A DOORNAIL | Island area with a dodo running around? Long gone! (4,2,1,8) |
| (ISLAND AREA + A DODO)* [* = running around] | ||
| 4 | See 25 Across | |
| 6 | MOONLIGHT SHADOW | Mike Oldfield initially against visual spectacle to include commercial song (9,6) |
| M[ike] O[ldfield] + ON (against) + LIGHT SHOW (visual spectacle) around AD (commercial) This 1983 song. |
||
| 7 | AMONG | In a flash nothing will be evacuated (5) |
| A + MO (flash) + N[othin]G | ||
| 8 | ASTERISK | After revision, Kelvin resits in pursuit of A* (8) |
| A + (K (Kelvin) + RESITS)* [* = after revision] | ||
| 9 | NARROW | New director lacking tolerance (6) |
| N (new) + ARROW (director) | ||
| 16 | INFLUENCE | Otherwise fine clue contains N for ‘power’ (9) |
| (FINE CLUE)* around N [* = otherwise] | ||
| 17 | ABRIDGES | Clips showing adult actor named Jeff (8) |
| A (adult) + BRIDGES (actor named Jeff) Jeff Bridges (b. 1949), brother of Beau, and well-known from films like The Last Picture Show (1971), The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989), The Big Lebowski (1998) or True Grit (2010). |
||
| 19 | EROTIC | Beethoven’s fourth overshadowed by his third, not half as exciting (6) |
| [bee]T[hoven] inside EROICA (his, i.e. Beethoven’s, third symphony) minus A[s] | ||
| 20 | CISTERN | Hospital worker in conversation with fourth member of think tank (7) |
| Homophone [in conversation] of SISTER (hospital worker) + [thi]N[k] | ||
| 21 | DECADE | Writer of 19 stories society ignored for a hundred and ten years (6) |
| DE SADE (writer of ‘erotic’ [19d] stories) with S (society) replaced by C (a hundred) Read all about it: Marquis de Sade. |
||
| 23 | FEVER | If ever I must leave, it makes me feel ill (5) |
| [i]F EVER | ||
I had a happier experience with this puzzle than with the one brought by this setter to the S&B gathering in May, in which I stumbled over a couple of themed names.
I completed this one, and it was a very satisfying experience to see through some well-disguised devices and clever misdirections in the following clues in particular:
1a STANDS BY (BY = ‘Times’)
5a IMPALA (= ‘devil-like’)
15a WIGGINS (INS = ‘in front of Sir’)
18a BOYZONE (B + OZONE = ‘British Gas’)
20a CUT OFF (CU = ‘short goodbye’)
25a GIVE A WIDE BERTH TO (an unexpected anagram)
3d DEAD AS A DOORNAIL (a smooth anagram related to the answer)
19d EROTIC (a disguised reference to EROICA, or a double bluff)
I was lucky to get 18a BOYZONE early on, as I don’t know many groups. I knew this one, although I didn’t know they were Irish.
I don’t remember seeing FORGATHER (12a) spelled that way, but it’s a valid alternative to FOREGATHER, and I have no qualms about it.
14a MIKADO was the only clue I failed to parse, although I can’t really see why.
All in all this was an excellent puzzle. I don’t mind a themeless crossword – bring ’em on!
Thanks Sil for the crossword and for going to the trouble of blogging it. It was good to meet you yesterday.
A bit tricky in places, but very enjoyable and I solved it all without recourse to any assistance. Particular favourites were IN FOR, STROLL and ASTERISK. I didn’t know the song at 6dn but it was easily got from wordplay and crossing letters. Curious that this crossword had LAGER as (REGAL)< and Exit's had REGAL as (LAGER)<.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Gave this the customary hour today and enjoyed what I did. Of course, I didn’t finish and ended up with missing about 12, so defo on the harder side of things for me. I thought there were a couple clues where I wasn’t sure about things (for instance, 1d felt like the defs of strife and rife were the wrong way round to me), but there was also lots of very good devices, funny clues and nice surfaces, too. Honours today go to said clever and funny stuff so thanks to Dalibor for the puzzle and to Sil for the blog.
Hoskins, you’re (of course) right about 1d.
Silly me.
The blog’s corrected now.
Cheers, Sil – though of course this means I now can’t be so happy about not getting it in the first place. 🙂
Well, it’s not the best clue of the set anyway and, yes, surely clued in a bit of ‘the other way around’ way – justifiable but not really good.
Dalibor told me that he’d written the skeleton of this crossword about two years ago and that nobody objected to 1d for that reason.
He also told me that he didn’t look at it any more since then but, probably, would nowadays be the first person to object! 🙁
With it being written two years ago, I look forward to seeing Dalibor’s newer stuff in print as this had lots of good stuff as mentioned. Oh, and I do have a dim recollection of a little bird telling me it was an old puzzle – should’ve remembered that (though I blame the elevnty-seven beers wot I had drunk when I was told that at the recent Macca do).
I intended to leave the macclesfield meeting with the various puzzles under my arm but of course forgot in the end. So, Many thanks to Sil for placing these on 15squared which gives me another chance – I’m just getting around to them now.
I thought this was an excellent puzzle – inventive and original, fresh, and very smooth. I liked the reverse anagram (11a), the excellent anagrams 25/4 and 3d and 8d, very familiar with the song in 6d and delighted with the answer after i originally thought it might be SONATA. 26a was another lovely surprise as well as being attractively quirky, loved director for ARROW – and much more.
I had mis-parsed the definition for 20a (CUT OFF) as short, which i thought was a bit naughty but of course I was wrong. I’m ashamed I didn’t know Beethoven’s third and I missed DECADE though i should have seen it from the checkers
All in all a captivating puzzle which was a delight to solve. Excellent, congratulations
Many thanks
Firstly I should apologise for taking so long to get round to tackling this. I enjoyed this one and found it easier than your Nottingham one. Liked MOONLIGHT SHADOW…
Thanks Sil/Dalibor