Vigo has provided us with today’s puzzle to entertain us on this summer’s day.
I found this towards the easier end of the Indy difficulty spectrum, but I am not complaining, since I don’t think I could have managed to solve and blog anything harder on this blisteringly hot day.
The ghost theme for today is one for the ornithologically inclined, as hinted at in 22: many of the entries (at 5, 6D, 10, 14, 21, 25A, 25D, 27, 28 …) are species of owl, some better known to the British twitcher than others. There may be even more examples that I have missed.
My favourite clues today are 3, for making me smile, and 20, for surface. I didn’t know the US slang meaning of “bogus” at 9.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | DUNG | Manure is brown with a little bit of green
DUN (=brown) + G<reen> (“little bit of” means first letter only) |
| 03 | TWEE | Time with number one is precious
T (=time) + WEE (=number one, i.e. urination); “twee” is precious, affected in manner |
| 06 | LLAMA | Producer of fine yarn is hit in US city
LAM (=hit, strike) in LA (=US city, i.e. Los Angeles) |
| 10 | BURROWING | Speak hoarsely due to working underground
BURR (=speak hoarsely, as in Northumberland) + OWING (=due to) |
| 11 | ULTRA | Extremist heart lugubrious revolutionary conceals
Hidden (“conceals”) and reversed (“revolutionary”) in “heART LUgubrious” |
| 12 | TISSUES | Paper handkerchiefs start to trigger problems
T<rigger> (“start to” means first letter only) + ISSUES (=problems) |
| 13 | ENHANCE | Add to henna spread on skin of cattle
*(HENNA) + C<attl>E (“skin of” means first and last letters only); “spread” is anagram indicator |
| 14 | BARN | Storage area graduate force constructs
BA (=graduate, i.e. Bachelor of Arts) + RN (=force, i.e. Royal Navy) |
| 16 | ACTION | One about to follow a court battle
A + CT (=court, in addresses) + I (=one) + ON (=about, regarding); “to die in action” is “to die in battle“ |
| 18 | ALP | A record peak
A + LP (=record) |
| 21 | ELF | Fairy tale creature is regularly well-off
<w>E<l>L<o>F<f>; “regularly” means alternate letters only are used |
| 22 | OWLETS | We lost various little birds
*(WE LOST); “various” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | BEAR | Put up with trimmed facial hair
BEAR<d> (=facial hair); “trimmed” means last letter is dropped |
| 25 | SCREECH | Mass of loose rock by church causes awful din
SCREE (=mass of loose rock) + CH (=church) |
| 27 | SPOTTED | Saw leader of Spain shot
S<pain> (“leader of” means first letter only) + POTTED (=shot, e.g. a bird for the pot) |
| 29 | OWNER | Person with title below queen (not Duke)
<d>OWN (=below; “not Duke (=d)” means letter “d” is dropped) + ER (=queen); the “title” of the definition indicates ownership, as in title deed |
| 30 | SCALLYWAG | Rascal and constant collaborator surrounded by ill-gotten gains
[C (=constant, in maths) + ALLY (=collaborator)] in SWAG (=ill-gotten gains) |
| 31 | YIELD | Relinquish // product
Double definition |
| 32 | EVEN | First lady gets new uniform
EVE (=first lady, in the OT) |
| 33 | DYES | Germany gets agreement to produce chemicals for fabric industry
D (=Germany, in IVR) + YES (=agreement) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | DEBATABLE | Questionable resting place up on a board
DEB (BED=resting place; “up” indicates vertical reversal) + A + TABLE (=board) |
| 02 | NARKS | Provokes first of naval rescue vessels
N<aval> + ARKS (=rescue vessels, from OT) |
| 04 | WHIMSICAL | Wrongly claim wish is fanciful
*(CLAIM WISH); “wrongly” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | EAGLE | Bird of prey skinned dogs
<b>EAGLE<s> (=dogs); “skinned” means first and last letters are dropped |
| 06 | LAUGHING | Roughly hauling keg finally splitting one’s sides
*(HAULING) + <ke>G (“finally” means last letter only); “roughly” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | ATTENUATE | Annoyed about number mutants regularly decline
[TEN (=(a) number) + <m>U<t>A<n>T<s> (“regularly” means alternative letters only are used)] in ATE (=annoyed, worried); to “attenuate” is to become thin and fine, to grow less, hence to “decline” |
| 08 | ABASE | A foundation that’s humble
A + BASE (=foundation); (to) “humble”, as a verb, is to “abase”, denigrate |
| 09 | BOGUS | Try returning in public transport that’s rubbish
OG (GO=try; “returning” indicates reversal) in BUS (=public transport); “bogus” means bad, disappointing in US slang |
| 15 | REFERENCE | Relation of inclination not quiet
<p>REFERENCE (=inclination, predilection); “not quiet (=P, in music)” means letter “p” is dropped; in relation to = in reference to |
| 17 | INTESTATE | Lacking will to remove bit of rubble from US highway
INTE<r>STATE (=US highway); “to remove bit (=first letter) of rubble” means letter “r” is dropped; someone who dies intestate has not left a will |
| 19 | PARADIGMS | Additional note about diagram represented good examples
*(DIAGRAM) in PS (=additional note); “represented” is anagram indicator |
| 20 | DOG-EARED | Scruffy road edge revamped
*(ROAD EDGE); “revamped” is anagram indicator |
| 24 | JOLLY | Lines taken in glee provide fun trip
LL (=lines) in JOY (=glee) |
| 25 | SNOWY | White present found in Seychelles
NOW (=present) in SY (=Seychelles, in IVR) |
| 26 | HASTE | Own way to replace velocity for speed
HAVE (=own, as verb); “way (=ST, for street) to replace velocity (=V, in physics)” means letters “st” replace letter “v” |
| 28 | TAWNY | Bronzed volunteers won heart of Kenyan
TA (=volunteers, i.e. Territorial Army) + W (=won, in football league tables) + <ke>NY<an> (“heart of” means middle letters only) |
We found this a very easy solve, but only spotted the theme after finishing because it’s Tuesday so we were looking for one. Not that we found all the owls but we got six of them plus the little birds in 22. BURROWING and SCALLYWAG were our clues of the day.
Thanks, Vigo and RatkojaRiku.
This was a balm, and exactly what a daily cryptic should be, in my book. So much fun. I’ve been uninspired crossword-wise lately and have cut down on the number of puzzles I do. But I saw this was a Vigo and thought well, that’s likely to be fun and not too difficult. And so it proved to be. Fun in spades. Enough to re-inspire me. A lovely theme too.
Many thanks Vigo and RatkojaRiku.
Missed the theme and thought I don’t know owls from cows, but in retrospect I have actually heard of most of the owls. Very nice!
No need for dictionary with this puzzle which is always a pleasure. I enjoyed some of the simpler ones most. Twee, bear, even, elf, laughing
Many thanks Vigo
Thank you to RatkojaRiku for the blog and to allan_c, kitty and Dutch for their comnents. I’m out of the UK at the moment in the Caribbean enjoying possibly cooler temperatures than those at home! Will have to stop using the heat as an excuse for not working on another puzzle. V
My comment seems to have disappeared into the ether so here goes again:-
Another delightful puzzle from Vigo. I did know most of the owls but the LAUGHING fella was new to me. The YouTube clip of his voice is quite remarkable!
Stupidly missed the parsing of 15d and don’t associate ‘burr’ with ‘hoarsely’ although Chambers assures me it is correct. I’ve always found the Scottish ‘burr’ rather soft.
SCALYWAG was definitely my favourite.
Many thanks to Vigo and to RR for the blog.
i don’t usually do the Indy puzzles but after such fun with the recent Radian (Hamlet-themed), I tried this one by Vigo, which I really enjoyed. Not too difficult but a pleasing level of challenge. My favourite creatures are owls, so I relished spotting all the theme connections – BARN at 14a and OWLETS at 22a being the clues that tipped me off. I had not seen BURR used as a verb before (10a BURROWING). My favourite (aside from all the owls!) was 17d INTESTATE.
Your holiday in the Caribbean sounds wonderful, Vigo. Sorry to hear everyone in the UK is struggling with the heat. Winter where I live in Australia is ideal at present – sunny warm days and cooler nights.
With thanks to Vigo and RatkojaRiku.