Nottingham S&B puzzle by Postmark

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THIS is Postmark’s puzzle for the Nottingham S&B

You can also access the puzzle  here where you will be able to find other puzzles set by Postmark and other setters.

Special instructions – ‘Originally published by, and reproduced with kind permission of Bedrock Magazine.’

Postmark, as many of you will be aware, has set puzzles for other S&B get-togethers. He also now sets puzzles for the Indy as STAMP.

Firstly, Joyce has to thank Postmark for his smooth surfaces – something that he is well known for. Both Bert and I prefer these but the fact that I could read the clues and almost remember the wording came in so useful. The pdf that Postmark submitted could not be deciphered by the website that we use for blogging. Despite trying various methods, it meant that I had to type out all the clues myself!

We completed the puzzle a while ago so I cannot recall whether we had any difficulties but there were no unusual words.

Thanks Postmark – always interesting tackling one of your puzzles. Thanks for submitting this one.

ACROSS
1. Old issue returning to dog United (3-4)
ONE-TIME

A reversal (‘returning’) of EMIT (issue) following (‘to dog’) ONE (united)

5. English accountant invested in best digital protection (6)
TOECAP

E (English) CA (chartered accountant) inside or ‘invested in’ TOP (best)

10. Skipper without one, installing small windlass (7)
CAPSTAN

CAPTAiN (skipper) without ‘i’ (one) around or ‘installing’ S (small)

11. Obsessive solver’s first to welcome setter’s ‘beasts‘ (7)
ANIMALS

ANAL (obsessive) S (first letter of solver) around or ‘welcoming’ I’M (setter’s)

12. Argument rages on in broadcast (9)
REASONING

An anagram (broadcast’) of RAGES ON IN

13. Revolutionary and others dead (4)
LATE

A reversal (‘revolutionary’) of ET AL (and others)

15. Saracens usually suppressing official body count (6)
CENSUS

Hidden (‘suppressed’) in SaraCENS USually

16. Wading birds principally nesting in cracks and crevices (8)
CRANNIES

CRANES (wading birds) round or ‘cracked by’  N I (first or ‘principal’ letters of nesting in)

17. He, perhaps, peers around Grandma’s skirts (5,3)
NOBLE GAS

NOBLES (peers) around GrandmA (first and last letters only or ‘skirts’) – He being the chemical symbol for Helium, one of the noble gases

20. Secure a new job requiring no energy (6)
ANCHOR

A N (new) CHORe (job) without ‘e’ (energy)

22. Enthusiastic about visiting twin town (4)
INTO

Hidden (‘visiting’) in twIN TOwn

23. Bob holing out for bogey? (9)
HOBGOBLIN

An anagram (‘out’) of BOB HOLING

27. Operative elected to join professional body (2,5)
IN ORDER

IN (elected) ORDER (professional body)

28. Salt is taking seconds for diffusion (7)
OSMOSIS

OS (ordinary seaman – ‘salt’) IS around or ‘taking’ MOS (seconds)

29. Settled West End cast having week off (6)
NESTED

An anagram (‘cast’) of wEST END missing ‘w’ (week)

30. Child in Kenya’s oddly denied offal (7)
KIDNEYS

KID (child) and even letters (‘oddly denied’) in iN kEnYa’S

DOWN
1. Crocus trimmed for replanting to happen (5)
OCCUR

An anagram (‘replanting’) of CROCUs missing last letter or ‘trimmed’

2. Defend cleric having old flame for tea (7)
EXPLAIN

chaPLAIN (cleric) with EX (old flame) replacing ‘cha’ (tea)

3. Discounter requires transportation to deliver presents (10)
INTRODUCES

An anagram (‘requires transportation’) of DISCOUNTER

4. Weariness of nurse curtailed night in Paris (5)
ENNUI

EN (enrolled nurse) NUIt (‘night’ in French) missing last letter or ‘curtailed’

6. Knocking up some spaghetti bolognese? Story of one’s life! (4)
OBIT

Hidden (‘some’) and reversed (‘knocking up’) in spagheTI BOlognese

7. Fellow at Indian primarily making this? (7)
CHAPATI

CHAP (fellow) AT I (first or ‘primary’ letter of Indian)

8. Steamship controlled by crew or owner? (9)
POSSESSOR

SS (steamship) inside or ‘controlled by’ POSSE (crew) OR

9. Vocalist’s shed item from wardrobe (6)
HANGER

A homophone (‘vocalist’s’) of HANGAR (shed)

14. Knight stops wearing livery in the dark (10)
UNINFORMED

N (knight) inside or ‘stopping’ UNIFORMED (wearing livery)

15. Rider or groom? (9)
CONDITION

Double definition

16. Chief of staff leaves function (3)
COS

Triple definition

18. Page produced by statisticians in support of VAT (7)
BUTTONS

ONS (‘statisticians’ – Office for National Statistics) under or ‘supporting’ BUTT (vat)

19. Stick in header when out of position (6)
ADHERE

An anagram (‘out of position’) of HEADER

21. Cyclist adopting Latin to visit Rome (4,3)
HOLY SEE

HOY (cyclist – Chris Hoy) around or ‘adopting’ L (Latin) + SEE (visit)

24. Allow bishop to cover another piece (5)
BROOK

B (bishop) on top of or ‘covering’ ROOK (another chess piece)

25. Sounds I ignored might be hooters (5)
NOSES

NOiSES (sounds) missing or ‘ignoring’ ‘i’

26. Python, an object of worship for audience (4)
IDLE

A homophone (‘for audience’) of IDOL (object of worship) – a reference to Eric Idle from Monty Python’s Flying Circus

10 comments on “Nottingham S&B puzzle by Postmark”

  1. Thanks for the blog, B&J. If anyone does choose to give this a go, given the wide range of alternatives available, I hope they enjoy.

    One minor tweak – you have provided two links in the preamble. The second is fine and take you through to the correct puzzle on the MyCrossword site. However, the first – as of c 9am this morning – is a link to the PDF of a puzzle I submitted to S&B a couple of years ago, I think.

    Thanks. PM

  2. Apologies for this Postmark – My first draft actually attached a crossword from one of the other setters who had submitted a puzzle for yesterday’s S&B. Bert noticed this original error so perhaps I could lay the blame for the second error on him!

  3. No probs. But the old puzzle (actually, it was last October) is still the one the first link directs you to as of 9.30am. And that’s not the one you’ve blogged.

  4. Thank you, Postmark. I had to leave early but yours was one of the puzzles I took home and that kept me engrossed for the rest of the afternoon. Most enjoyable..

  5. Quite an enjoyable puzzle. Detailed and neat blog.
    Thanks PostMark and B&J.

    No redundant words in the clues. Only a handful of clues with linkwords (‘and’ as a
    link is acceptable, I guess). Several lovely surfaces as the bloggers say.

    My faves: ANIMALS, NOBLE GAS, EXPLAIN, INTRODUCES, OBIT, CHAPATI and NOSES.

  7. I have had umpteen attempts at commenting on this puzzle having met a ‘database error’ message at various stages along the way, the latest right at the ‘Post Comment’ point and then, when the connection was re-established, my post had disappeared.

    I’m a fan of PostMark’s / Stamp’s puzzles, which I often find quite a challenge, well worth persevering with, because I know that I can have implicit trust in the integrity of the clues and enjoy meticulously honed / apposite / witty surfaces along the way.

    As so often, it seems invidious to pick out individual clues. Today, I ticked CAPSTAN, ANIMALS, NOBLE GAS, HOBGOBLIN, EXPLAIN, INTRODUCES, ENNUI, OBIT, CHAPATI, COS, HOLY SEE and HOOTERS, for various reasons which I can’t expand on, because it’s now nearly time for me to go out.

    Many thanks to PostMark for a most enjoyable puzzle and to Cineraria for a fine blog. Now, fingers crossed as I click ‘Post Comment’ – if it fails yet again, I can’t try again until teatime (but I’m keeping a copy this time. 😉)

  8. I suspect this has now run its course so will pop in to thank those three brave souls who gave this a go. I am pleased it afforded a little bit of pleasure. For my part, I am chuffed that the surfaces went down well – they mean a lot to me as both setter and solver. A couple of iffy ones in the SE but, those apart …

    Thanks for the support.

    PM/Stamp

    That was uncanny timing – Eileen’s post appeared whilst I was writing mine own! Four brave souls!

  10. A little tricky in places but an enjoyable solve, which I did on paper on Saturday, then again on MyCrossword via the home page not the links.

    Thanks PostMark, B & J

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