| Across | |
|---|---|
| 4 | (SHE COSTS O)* – COHOSTESS. Quite a strange clue as it’s not really an &lit (“She costs nothing when partying”) but it reads like one. |
| 9 | ATE in NS – NATES was new to me so, together with the wrong-way-round wording “clenching worried Poles” meaning “Poles clenching worried”, this held me up for a while. |
| 10 | GAL,I in METHS |
| 11 | CAF[-e] in SELL – last one in for me and I had to use to check that SCA FELL is indeed a mountain or “peak”. |
| 13/1 | IT STARTED WITH A KISS – A song by Hot Chocolate. The rest of the clue (“answers here”) refers to the positioning of the answer in the grid so that A KISS starts the crossword at 1a. |
| 16/24 | THIS WILL END IN TEARS – similar to the previous answer in that part of the clue (“description of today’s puzzle”) refers to the completed grid – the last across entry being TEARS. |
| 18 | H,S in (LAPSE)* – HAPLESS |
| 20 | GATE A,U,X – I was a little puzzled by “first opening” but have just twigged that it’s GATE A. |
| 21 | (A GULLET OR)* – LAGER LOUT. I liked this a lot. The gullet is the throat so we have a reference to drinking and “misbehaving” in the clue. |
| 23 | (RETRO AZED)* – ZERO-RATED. Misleading surface reading and, of course, name-checking a fellow compiler. |
| Down | |
| 1 | (COSTING A)* – Quite a hard definition to spot (“He doesn’t know”). I think I would have spotted the anagram a bit quicker but I thought “it’s” had more significance rather than just being a link word. |
| 2 | N,S in INTRA,IT – took a while to parse this one – “Crossing partners break within it” – as my initial thought was that “within” was a container indicator and “it” the container itself, which works for IN TRANSIT. But actually, “within” in INTRA/ |
| 3 | (CARROT MYSTERIES)* – SYSTEMATIC ERROR. |
| 4 | (USE WET POLO MATCH)* – COMPLETE WASHOUT. |
| 5 | HIGHLY DELIGHTED – a pun on being up high (“cloud”,”heaven”). |
| 6 | (EVENTS AFFLICTED)* – SELF-EVIDENT FACT. I was a bit surprised to see EVIDENT in the answer given that “evidence” is in the clue but it must be right. |
| 7 | EAT-IN – don’t understand this one: “CH in full is not to go!” “Not to go” must be the definition – any offers for the rest of the clue? |
| 14 | HYDRANGEA – sounds like “hyde ranger”. |
| 15 | (SEX SINCE)* – IN EXCESS. |
| 17 | L in SHUT,Z – must be a reference to this man. |
| 19 | RE,GAP (going up) |
6 comments on “Independent 6596/Nimrod”
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“CH in full” is Central Heating. Central Heating (i.e. the centre of hEATINg) is EAT IN and (as you mention) if something is “not to go” in a cafe it is to “EAT-IN”.
I couldn’t finish this.
I had heard of Scafell (isn’t it the highest peak in England?) but thought it was one word. I was looking for sea something.
I guess 12 across is Leeanne. Although Chambers gives 6 variants of Leanne this is not one of them.
I couldn’t get 8 down. Does the fact that Neil doesn’t explain it mean it’s blindingly obvious or couldn’t he do it either?
8 down is SUSSEX – See through is SUSS, wife that was is EX.
Deciding which clues to blog is always tricky. 8d didn’t look blindingly obvious but it looked a bit easier than some of the other clues which is why I left it out. I also had LEEANNE for 12a but I’d never seen that spelling of it either.
Scafell Pike is the highest peak in England. Sca Fell, about a mile away from Scafell Pike, is the second highest peak and is sometimes spelt as one word but often as two.
I found this a very difficult puzzle but got there in the end – SUSSEX being last.
The interlinking of clues and the large no. of 15-letter answers were part of the reason for this. Thanks for GATE A which I did not understand. The key to finishing was seeing EAT IN and why.