The original blogger couldn’t make it on time, so it’s me again.
A PDF of the crossword can be found here Exit 1 @ York 2018 , for the interactive version look here and Pick Your Own.
Many thanks to Exit (who is one of the (Independent) regulars at Fifteensquared).
A completed grid is added at the end of this blog
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 7 | DISCO | Dance in policeman’s company (5) |
| DI’S (policeman’s, Detective Inspector’s) + CO (company) | ||
| 8 | EXAMINERS | Following cutback pitmen becoming inspectors (9) |
| Reversal [back] of AXE (cut), followed by MINERS (pitmen) One has to split ‘cutback’. Some call that Lift & Separate (I don’t). |
||
| 9 | TEMPERA | Agency worker takes an age to get paint (7) |
| TEMP (agency worker) + ERA (an age) | ||
| 10 | DORMICE | Do marines kill rodents? (7) |
| DO + RM (marines, Royal Marines) + ICE (kill) | ||
| 12 | SURINAM | Main user devastated when deprived of drug somewhere in South America (7) |
| Anagram [devastated] of MAIN USER minus E (drug) Surinam is a former Dutch colony in South America, aka Dutch Guyana. It became independent in 1975. |
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| 13 | BREADTH | Bridge canal, perhaps, then start to define edges of towpath for width (7) |
| BR (bridge, abbreviated) + EA (canal, a river or drainage channel) + T[owpat]H EA? Exit doing a Pasquale? |
||
| 14 | COMPRESSION | Trashing Spooner’s microphone shortly results in reduction in volume (11) |
| Anagram [trashing] of {SPOONER’S + MIC (microphone, shortened)} | ||
| 19 | NAFF ALL | Supporter’s return – collapse – nothing! (4,3) |
| Reversal [return] of FAN (supporter), followed by FALL (collapse) | ||
| 21 | ENGLISH | “Shifting shingle” could describe Sheringham beach but not Llandudno’s (7) |
| Anagram [shifting] of SHINGLE Sheringham is in Norfolk,therefore English. Llandudno, however, is in Wales. |
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| 23 | THWARTS | Pottery school disallowing own goal after time is frustrating (7) |
| HOGWARTS (‘Potter-y’ school, the school in the Harry Potter novels) minus OG (own goal), coming after T (time) | ||
| 25 | BANSHEE | That woman embracing European after prohibition is a wailer (7) |
| SHE (that woman) around E (European), coming after BAN (prohibition) | ||
| 26 | STEEL WOOL | Reportedly steal fleece or something for cleaning … (5,4) |
| Homophone [reportedly] of STEAL, followed by WOOL (fleece) | ||
| 27 | USAGE | … in campus – a general custom (5) |
| Hidden answer [in]: campus a general | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ISOMERIC | Miso mixed with rice, taking different forms (8) |
| Anagram [mixed] of MISO + RICE | ||
| 2 | MODERN | New sailors followers of fashion (6) |
| RN (sailors, Royal Navy), coming after MODE (fashion) | ||
| 3 | RED ADMIRAL | Kuznetsov’s butterfly? (3,7) |
| Double definition Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov (1904-1974) was Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union. Apparently, a Russian aircraft carrier is named after him. Oh What a Lucky Man he was. |
||
| 4, 18 | HARD CHEESE | No Brie? Tough! (4,6) |
| Double / Cryptic definition Brie is quite the opposite of ‘hard cheese’. |
||
| 5 | DISRAELI | Confused idler is a statesman (8) |
| Anagram [confused] of IDLER IS A Our old friend Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881). In 1967 the inimitable Cream thought he ‘gears’. |
||
| 6 | PERIOD | Pride ruffled about nothing. (6) |
| Anagram [ruffled] of PRIDE, going around O (nothing) That’s sneaky of Exit! The definition is just the ‘full stop’ at the end of the clue. |
||
| 7 | DETEST | Hate start of day on East River (6) |
| D (day) + E (East) + TEST (river) | ||
| 11 | ECHO | Umberto taking in Henry’s parrot (4) |
| ECO (Umberto, the Italian writer Umberto Eco) around H (Henry, unit of inductance (in Physics)) | ||
| 13 | BASKETBALL | Game to enjoy before first couple from Etruria dance (10) |
| BASK (enjoy) + ET[ruria] + BALL (dance) | ||
| 15 | MEAGRELY | Graeme, unkempt, outwardly lazy, is in a poor way (8) |
| Anagram [unkempt] of GRAEME, followed by L[az]Y | ||
| 16 | NAIL-HEAD | An ideal hotel complex – it could go under the hammer … (4-4) |
| Anagram [complex] of AN IDEAL H (hotel) | ||
| 17 | INST | … this month: partners needed to stop it (4) |
| N,S (partners, in bridge) inside IT | ||
| 18 | See 4 | |
| 20 | FOWLER | Papageno, the author of 2 21 27? (6) |
| Papageno was the bird-catcher in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and might therefore be described as a ‘fowler’ ‘2 21 27’ gives us Modern English Usage, a book which was written by lexicographer H.W. Fowler (1858-1933). Us simpletons only know Robbie Fowler …. |
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| 22 | GENIUS | Einstein, say, backing province over country? (6) |
| Reversal [backing] of EG (say), followed by NI (province, Northern Ireland) + US (country) Northern Ireland just a province and the US a country? There’s something wrong in the world. |
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| 24 | STOW | Pack in 5 letters (4) |
| S T U V W are 5 consecutive letters of the alphabet: S to W Nice clue to end this enjoyable journey with. |
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I enjoyed this crossword a lot, and Exit’s experience of setting these puzzles clearly showed in the way the clues were put together using a range of devices, not to mention tricks as well.
I was fooled by the ‘absence’ of a definition for PERIOD, even though I solved that clue readily enough. I didn’t even see the full-stop at the end of the clue. I also failed to ‘get’ the BREA part of BREADTH, and I left STOW unsolved at the finish.
In 26a STEEL WOOL I thought ‘steal’ sounding like STEEL was too obvious and would have expected a synonym like ‘nick’ instead. (Indirect homophones are more common these days so that you don’t ‘announce’ the answer in the clue.)
The clues I liked best were: 8a EXAMINERS, 9a TEMPERA, 12a SURINAM, 23a THWARTS, 2d MODERN and 16d NAIL-HEAD.
Congratulations to Exit on a well-crafted crossword, and many thanks to Sil for a comprehensive blog – and for taking it on.
This was the first of those I tackled at the S&B and so far the only one I managed to complete unaided. Loved the presence of the full stop. 23a and 6d tied for my faves.
Thanks to Exit and Sil for explaining my bung ins. It may be some time before I manage to do all the fine puzzles I picked up in York. Not least the Boatman book of his first 50 Guardian puzzles that I was fortunate to win in John H quiz by hanging on the coattails of Richard, Kenmac Johnathan and Sue.
Thank you to Alan B and John Bee for your kind comments.
Apropos the sneaky full stop/period, Punk pulled a similar trick in the Indy on Saturday; I won’t elaborate in case anyone wants to try the puzzle.
Thanks Exit and Sil
Am getting though the S&B puzzles as I get a spare moment. Whilst this one didn’t take all that long to actually complete the grid, there was quite a bit of ‘after time’ to work out the parsing of a number of the clues. Even so, I couldn’t work out the BREA for 13a – whilst guessing that BR might be an abbreviation of ‘bridge’, I had no idea with the EA as a watercourse.
Finished with DISRAELI in the NE corner (and puzzled why he took so long to find) and THWARTS in the SW corner (which I can certainly understand why – it ended up being my favourite).
Now only the Dalibor one left to go.