Anglio is occupying this week’s Thursday slot, offering me a first opportunity to blog one of his puzzles.
I found this to be a fairly challenging puzzle to solve and quite an intricate one to blog. The puzzle uses a grid quite familiar to Guardian and Times solvers, but not one that I have seen that often in the Indy. I think I have managed to parse everything correctly, having needed Chambers to explain BEF at 1D and 12.
My favourite clues today were 2, for overall construction; 28, for the device involving “bolts”; and 3, 9 and above all 21, all for surface.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
Across | ||
01 | BACK-TO-BACK | On Tuesday, he died amid gunfire after beginning to burgle house
B<urgle> (“beginning to” means first letter only) + {[T (=Tuesday, on calendar) + OB. (=he died, i.e. obiit)] in ACK-ACK (=gunfire, i.e. anti-aircraft fire)} |
06 | DRAB | Tradesmen finally leaving brand new flat
*(BRA<n>D); “tradesmen finally, i.e. last letter only, leaving” means letter “n” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “new”; “flat” as an adjective means drab, dull |
10 | FALLACY | Female associate embraces current misconception
AC (=current, i.e. alternating current) in [F (=female) + ALLY (=associate)] |
11 | FAIRWAY | A tree-covered approach? On the contrary
[A in FIR (=tree)] + WAY (=approach); cryptically, a fairway on a golf course would be anything but tree-covered! |
12 | GYROSCOPE | One maintains stability, seeing large policeman in grey pants
[OS (=large, i.e. outsize) + COP (=policeman)] in *(GREY); “pants (=rubbish)” is anagram indicator; gyroscopes can assist stability in bikes, motorbikes and ships |
13 | DINAR | What may be deposited in Arab banks?
Hidden (“banks”) in “depositeD IN ARab”; & lit. |
14 | RADIO | Resistance has trouble keeping one hidden?
R (=resistance, in physics) + [I (=one) in ADO (=trouble); & lit.; the Resistance movement in WWII would have kept its radios hidden! |
15 | TASK FORCE | Military group has time to request ceasefire at the borders
T (=time) + ASK FOR (=to request) + C<easefir>E (“at the borders” means first and last letters only) |
17 | FUNK MUSIC | After festival Mick travels around America, listening to this?
FUN (=festival, celebration) + [US (=America) in *(MICK)]; “travels” is anagram indicator |
20 | ARMED | Having a heater raised the temperature, though not at first
<w>ARMED (=raised the temperature); “not at first” means first letter dropped; “heater” is old slang for gun, pistol |
21 | CROAT | EU citizen having right to enter Ulster?
R (=right) in COAT (=Ulster) |
23 | CRO-MAGNON | Roman gods originally included in study of early Europeans
[G<ods> (“originally” means first letter only) in ROMAN] in CON (=study, pore over); Cro-Magnon relates to an early type of Homo sapiens, of late Palaeolithic times |
25 | OUTWORN | Our number two admitted being tired
TWO in [OUR + N (=number)]; “outworn” is a synonym for worn-out |
26 | KNITTED | One is foolish, King Edward accepts, to get so closely entwined
NIT (=one is foolish) in [K (=king, in cards) + TED (=Edward)] |
27 | YUCK | Your cake lacks regular ingredients – it’s horrible
Y<o>U<r> C<a>K<e>; “lacks regular ingredients” means alternate letters are dropped |
28 | GOODNESS ME | My attempt, ultimately, to send back some old bolts
GO (=attempt) +<t>O (“ultimately” means last letter only) + DNES (SEND; “back” indicates reversal) + S<o>ME (“old (=O) bolts” means letter “o” is dropped) |
Down | ||
01 | BEFOG | Dunkirk veterans turn up underneath cloud
BEF (=Dunkirk veterans, i.e. British Expeditionary Force) + OG (GO=turn (at doing); “up” indicates vertical reversal) |
02 | COLORADAN | In America, say, black woman has support from New Statesman
COLOR (=in America, say, black, i.e. US spelling of colour) + ADA (=woman) + N (=new) |
03 | TRANSFORMATION | For shift, doctor sat in for matron
*(SAT IN FOR MATRON); “doctor” is anagram indicator |
04 | BOYCOTT | Refuse to engage with son too much, having caught cold
C (=cold) in [BOY (=son) + OTT (=too much, i.e. over-the-top)] |
05 | COFFERS | Conservative has proposals for treasury
C (=conservative) + OFFERS (=proposals) |
07 | ROWAN | Managed to squeeze down inside tree
<d>OW<n> (“inside” means middle letters only are used) in RAN (=managed) |
08 | BOYFRIEND | Surprisingly bone dry if given squeeze, perhaps
*(BONE DRY IF); “surprisingly” is anagram indicator |
09 | BIRD OF PARADISE | After training, RAF bod is paired with highly decorated flyer
*(RAF BOD IS PAIRED); “after training” is anagram indicator |
14 | REFECTORY | With regards to fridge being empty, roar over to eating place
RE (=with regards to) + F<ridg>E (“being empty” means all but first and last letters are dropped) + [TO in CRY (=roar)] |
16 | RUMINATES | Considers journey that takes in motorway, having a cake to pick up
[M1 (=motorway) in RUN (=journey)] + A + TES (SET=cake, harden; “to pick up” indicates vertical reversal) |
18 | SECONDO | Uplifting verses to include study for vocal part
CON (=study, pore over) in SEDO (ODES=verses; “uplifting” indicates vertical reversal); the secondo is the lower part in a duet |
19 | CLOCKED | Jammed to Clapton’s first hit
C<lapton> (“first” means first letter only) + LOCKED (=jammed, stuck) |
22 | OPTIC | Procedure held up by involuntary movement of the eye
OP (=procedure, i.e. operation) + TIC (=involuntary movement) |
24 | NUDGE | Push dune buggy, essentially getting knackered
*(DUNE + <bu>G<gy>); “essentially” means middle letter only needed in anagram, indicated by “knackered” |
I think this was an excellent crossword, a puzzle with many highlights.
Only one small niggle. A pity that we have (in 18d and 23ac) two overlapping(!) CONs (both clued the same way).
But all very enjoyable.
Many thanks to RR & Anglio.
Struggled but got there in the end. Didn’t care for some of the clues but overall it was a good workout.
Also didn’t know BEF in 1d and used Chambers. Originally, I put ‘crammed’ for 19d. C for Clapton’s first and RAMMED for hit. Didn’t like it since ‘jammed’ and ‘crammed’ are too similar so glad it proved to be wrong.
Thanks to Anglio and RatkojaRiku.
Quite a challenge but we got it all in the end – COLORADAN was our LOI. Some very nice surfaces, though (e.g. 15ac, 9dn, 14dn) as well as &lits (13ac, 14ac).
We too noticed the repetition of ‘con’ for ‘study’. And is it National Pants Week or something – that’s three days out of four ‘pants’ has been used as an anagrind?
Thanks, though, Anglio and RatkojaRiku.
PS: Btw has anyone else had trouble printing the puzzle today? I got the puzzle OK (using Firefox on a laptop with Windows 10) but when I clicked on the puzzle’s print button nothing happened. I managed to print it eventually from a screenshot of the grid and by cutting and pasting the clues – a bit time-consuming.
alan_c
“PS: Btw has anyone else had trouble printing the puzzle today? “
I have just tried and had no problems with either Chrome or Firefox (also running under Win10).
Found this a stiff challenge and allowed myself the use of electronic aids. Plenty to enjoy though.
I also noticed the double con. Late edit perhaps?
Thanks to Anglio and RatkojaRiku.
@4: Thanks, Gaufrid. Just tried again now and it worked – must have just needed the ‘switch it off and switch it on again’ treatment.
It’s a fair cop; I used the same synonym pair twice – I had an entirely different clue for 23ac and completely rewrote it for the edit, so I’m afraid that one slipped through the net.
Thanks for the comments, as always – I love to see how people find the challenge.
Many thanks also to RatkojaRiku for taking the time to write such an excellent blog/analysis.
Excellent puzzle, certainly the best Anglo crossword I’ve done.
COLORADAN also my LOI, after I worked out that FOLK, which I entered without bothering to parse since it seemed so obvious (didn’t anybody else do this?), should be FUNK in 17A.
Great stuff Anglio and thanks as always to RatkojaRiku for the usual impeccable blog.