It’s Joyce this week – solving and blogging the puzzle on her own while Bert is trekking in Nepal. It’s been a very strange experience as we always solve and blog puzzles together.
Well, it’s Tuesday so I was on the look-out for a theme and needless to say it was fairly easy to spot. What was amazing though was just how many thematic references Crosophile included. There may even be more obscure or better known brews that I have missed.
Only a couple of head scratching moments during the solve – thanks Crospophile. Had it been more difficult it would have been rather expensive, if not impossible to have phoned a friend!
If there are any errors or changes that are required please let me know.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BIER | Support for the dead 17 is heartless (4) |
| BI |
||
| 3 | BLACK SHEEP | Returned son having left, the guy’s base and prodigal at first – and still is? (5,5) |
| BACK (return) S (son) around or ‘having’ L (left) HE (guy) E (the base of the natural system of logarithms used in mathematics) P (first letter of prodigal) – a clue as definition | ||
| 10 | OTTER | An animal notebook Jack’s lost (5) |
| 11 | MARGARITA | Returning in a public vehicle one tabloid shows a cocktail (9) |
| A reversal or ‘returning’ of I RAG (tabloid) in A TRAM (public vehicle) | ||
| 12 | DETENTE | A warming-up made tent expand in one section (7) |
| Hidden in the clue maDE TENT Expand | ||
| 13 | NITPICK | An idiot to select carp (7) |
| NIT (idiot) PICK (select) | ||
| 14 | INSIGHTS | One succeeded in grasping tricky things – with these? (8) |
| A partial clue as definition – I (one) S (succeeded) around or ‘grasping an anagram of THINGS – anagrind is ‘tricky’ | ||
| 17 | BITTER | One giving a nip holding tip of toe, like crabs? (6) |
| BITER (one giving a nip) around T (first letter or ‘tip’ of toe). Well I had a very roundabout way of sorting out this clue. I guessed 1ac from the definition and that confirmed my parsing of this clue but I could not fathom out the definition at first. However, I vaguely remembered ‘crabby’ and checked it in Chambers. The second meaning confirmed that BITTER could be a synonym. Along the way I also googled CRAB and BITTER only to find a disease of crabs (BSC – Bitter Crab Syndrome). I didn’t expect Crosophile to be that obscure so continued looking. | ||
| 19 | EXPORT | Sandwich for instance to take abroad? (6) |
| Sandwich was one of the Cinq Ports so it is now an EX PORT | ||
| 21 | DIAGONAL | Struggle to keep within ring that’s on a slant (8) |
| AGON (struggle) inside or being ‘kept within’ DIAL (ring) | ||
| 25 | BARRIER | Hostelry beside river with very short fence? (7) |
| BAR (hostelry) RI |
||
| 26 | PUBBING | Back on a high with taste of booze, on a bender mostly doing this? (7) |
| Another partial clue as definition – UP (on a high) reversed or ‘back’ with B (first letter or a ‘taste of booze’) on BINGe (bender – without last letter or ‘mostly’) | ||
| 28 | OPERATICS | Ridiculous cries apt to follow nothing at all? (9) |
| A clue as defintion – an anagram of CRIES APT – anagrind is ‘ridiculous’ – following O (nothing at all) | ||
| 29 | STOUT | Second solicitor is dauntless (5) |
| S (second) TOUT (solicitor) | ||
| 30 | DESPERADOS | Outlaws thus venture to return after having sped off (10) |
| SO (thus) DARE (venture) reversed or ‘returning’ after an anagram of SPED – anagrind is ‘off’ | ||
| 31 | MEAD | Poetic pastureland with recorded dimensions? Not sure in that (4) |
| MEA |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BROADSIDE | Criticism of minor thoroughfare hard shoulder? (9) |
| B (B as used to describe a minor thoroughfare) and ROADSIDE (hard shoulder) | ||
| 2 | ESTATES | Lands in Florida and Carolina say? (7) |
| Florida and Carolina are examples of E (Eastern) STATES | ||
| 4 | LAMBENT | Flickering flame essentially twisty (7) |
| The middle letters of fLAMe or ‘essentially’ and BENT (twisty) | ||
| 5 | CORONA | Ring around sun – (around, encircling or above surface of) (6) |
| CA (around) around or ‘encircling’ OR ON (above the surface of) | ||
| 6 | STARTLING | Surprising bird to nest around top of tree (9) |
| STARLING (bird) ‘nesting around’ T (first letter or ‘top’ of Tree) | ||
| 7 | ELITIST | It is adopted by fifth-rate celebs and privileged (7) |
| IT inside or ‘adopted by’ E-LISTS (fifth-rate celebs) | ||
| 8 | PRANK | Main part of a seesaw turning left to right as a practical joke (5) |
| P |
||
| 9 | WREN | Jenny’s an architect (4) |
| A WREN is sometimes referred to as a jenny-wren. In the middle ages apparently the jackdaw was known as a daw and a magpie as a pie but then personal names were added to them. As they are one of my favourite birds, I will risk incurring Pierre’s wrath, by including one of his obligatory bird links HERE. | ||
| 15 | GERMINATE | Good quality fur takes a time to come to life (9) |
| G (good) ERMINE (quality fur) around or ‘taking’ A T (time). However, I am not sure whether some people would describe ANY fur as ‘quality’ unless it was on a live animal. | ||
| 16 | SAD | The German’s upset and unhappy (3) |
| A reversal or ‘upset’ of DAS (‘the’ in German) | ||
| 18 | RELEGATED | Get leader in revolt sent down (9) |
| An anagram of GET LEADER – anagrind is ‘in revolt’ | ||
| 20 | PORTERS | Doorkeepers left society entertaining the Queen (7) |
| PORT (left) S (society) around or ‘entertaining’ ER (the Queen) | ||
| 22 | IMPASTO | Very thick painter uses this progress report on learning alphabet? (7) |
| Someone who is learning the alphabet may well say – I’M PAST O | ||
| 23 | NOISOME | Offensive racket is punctuated by sound of meditation (7) |
| NOISE (racket) around or ‘punctuated by’ OM (a sacred syllable intoned as part of meditation) | ||
| 24 | TROIKA | Group of three in one go-kart crashed with leader of group flung out (6) |
| An anagram of I GO KART – anagrind is ‘crashed’ without G (first letter or ‘leader of’ group) | ||
| 25 | BROOD | Children made thematic stuff, it’s said (5) |
| BROOD (sounds like or ‘is said’ BREWED). The puzzle includes items that have been brewed. | ||
| 27 | BASS | Fish of the deep (4) |
| Double definition | ||
Never heard of Otter, Troika, Lambent or Brood, drink wise.Not sure I want to.
Why wasnt PUBBING highlighted?
Liked the puzzle though. I remember when Bass was a brewery !
Copmus – I did wonder about highlighting PUBBING but decided against it as it wasn’t something that was BREWED.
As far as the brews you mention, I remembered drinking a pint of OTTER so decided I’d bitter (sorry!) check some of the other entries.
I ended up missing out on MEAD, being stuck on ‘er’ for ‘not sure’. I liked trying to spot the thematic entries, but find that my knowledge of alcoholic brews is sadly, or perhaps not so sadly, lacking. I’ve also learnt there’s no such fish as a ‘nutpick’
Re OPERATICS: my thoughts exactly!
Thanks to J, sans B, and Crosophile
Thanks Crosophile – my kind of theme.
Congratulations on your solo flight Joyce. We have a friend trekking in Nepal at the moment so he and Bert can hardly fail to meet. 🙂
copmus @ 1
MARIS OTTER is a barley used to make brewers’ malt
Simon @5 i have used it myself in home brews- I think it was a cross between two varieties of barley concocted in one of the two Universities (as Sir Humphrey would say)
OTTER is also a brewery in Honiton, Devon
Quite right Goujeers – Very aptly named with the Tarka Trail nearby. I had Otter ale when we were walking part of the trail earlier this year.
Terribly sorry I totally forgot to comment. Thanks very much for the lovely blog, Joyce. I’m glad people enjoyed the theme.
Otter is my local tipple. Otter bitter is the best, IMHO, but other offerings from the same brewery are available. 🙂