Well, what can we say? We really struggled to get started and wondered whether we would have to ‘phone a friend’ or admit defeat. In the end it was definitely one of those puzzles when two brains were better than one. Many of the clues, especially the pair connected to 2D really pushed the boundaries for their definitions, as far as we were concerned. Was Nimrod trying to ‘out-fool’ on us on April Fool’s Day?
Thankfully, luck was with us and Bert noticed the possibility of ‘AND RED ALL OVER’ in the grid once we had some crossing letters. Mind you, we still had no idea about the other riddles. At one point Joyce (who is writing the blog) was confused and suggested COMMUNIST PENGUINS as one of the ‘jokes or riddles’ because it fitted the grid.
11/20 still has us somewhat puzzled so any help would be most welcome.
As I wrote up the blog I asked Bert whether he had enjoyed the solve. We both agreed that when the penny dropped we had a lot of smiles and laughs so the struggle was obviously worth it in the end!
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | See 23 | |
| 10 | See 13 | |
| 11/20 | Sin spun out with lubricant, (two?) non-traditional alternatives to newspaper (4,2,1,5-4) | |
| NUNS IN A STRIP CLUB | An anagram of SIN SPUN and LUBRICANT – anagrind is ‘out’ but we are struggling with the relevance of “two?”. Is it because ‘nuns’ is in the plural so there must be at least two? | |
| 12 | Still with chance of winning trophy, shown red card for foul (2-3) | |
| IN-OFF | IN (if you are ‘in’ you still have a chance of winning trophy) OFF (shown red card) | |
| 13/10 | Revolutionary 9p study by Polish students accepting good university’s non-traditional alternative to newspaper (9,7) | |
| SUNBURNED PENGUIN | NINE P DEN (study) RUB (polish) NUS (students as in National Union of Students) all reversed or ‘revolutionary’ around G (good) U (university) | |
| 14 | Snow that obstructs medic whenever temperature’s reduced (5) | |
| DRIFT | DR (medic) IF (whenever) T (shortened version of temperature or ‘reduced’) | |
| 16 | See 18 | |
| 18/16 | Somerville (one of two) is not happy in two for one non-traditional alternative to newspaper (9,9) | |
| COMMUNIST CROSSWORD | COMMUN |
|
| 19 | Remained lustful, having turned back time (5) | |
| DWELT | LEWD (lustful) reversed or ‘turned back’ T (time) | |
| 20 | See 11 | |
| 23/1/26 | Poor Edward hasn’t completely finished describing monotonous newspaper by tradition (5,5,3,5,3,3,3,4) | |
| WHAT’S BLACK AND WHITE AND RED ALL OVER | An anagram of EDWARD HASN’T – anagrind is ‘poor’ ALL OVER (completely finished) around BLACK AND WHITE (monotonous) | |
| 24 | Require too much of green area, restricted by elements of game (7) | |
| OVERTAX | VERT (green) A (area) inside or ‘restricted by’ O X (elements used in the game of noughts and crosses) | |
| 25 | Prime cuts of entrecôte and lemon in pancakes with caviar and champagne cocktail (7) | |
| BELLINI | E L – first letters or ‘prime cuts’ of entrecôte and lemon inside BLINI (pancakes). Nimrod has added caviar to his pancakes but in the B and J household we serve them with smoked salmon. | |
| 26 | See 23 | |
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | By coming between two lecturers, is Mark’s missus giving trouble, or wee Jimmy? (9) | |
| LONDONISM | We really struggled with this one and eventually did a search in our electronic version of Chambers as we couldn’t think of any other word that would fit. It wasn’t until we had completed the puzzle that Bert realised that you had to think of the definition as two versions of Cockney Rhyming Slang – missus giving trouble for ‘trouble and strife’ (wife) and ‘wee’ is Jimmy Riddle (piddle). The parsing is ON (by) in between L and DON (two lecturers) IS M (mark). PHEW – not a straight definition to be seen! | |
| 3 | The local comic editor’s left very happy to do the Locomotion? (5) | |
| CHUFF | CHUFF |
|
| 4 | Quite a wait to be able to welcome New Woman (5) | |
| AGNES | AGES (quite a wait) around or ‘welcoming’ N (new) | |
| 5 | In restaurant, maybe yelling because of painful condition (6,3) | |
| DINING OUT | Oh Dear! Could this yelling caused by gout (a painful condition) be described as DIN IN GOUT ? | |
| 6 | Now a Brahma worshipper is hidden, mysteriously in full view within (9) | |
| HINDUISED | An anagram of IS HIDDEN – anagrind is ‘mysteriously’ around U (in full view as in ‘can be seen by everyone’ as used in film classifications) | |
| 7 | One running through Devon in white ignored (5) | |
| TEIGN | Hidden in the clue whiTE IGNored | |
| 8 | It was difficult to call disciplines to order (5,8) | |
| SPLIT DECISION | An anagram of DISCIPLINES TO – anagrind is ‘order’ | |
| 9 | Registration for post dispatched in a panic? (13) | |
| CANDIDATESHIP | An anagram of DISPATCHED IN A – anagrind is ‘panic’ | |
| 15 | Swan – tense spirit, Paul’s fellow flier (9) | |
| TRUMPETER | T (tense) RUM (spirit) PETER (Paul’s fellow flier in ‘Two Little Dickie Birds’). Joyce really enjoyed this clue – one of her favourite ‘party tricks’ with young children is this game. | |
| 16 | Fixing line with cut, youngster put the plates up, according to 2 (9) | |
| CHILLAXED | L (line) AXE (cut) inside or ‘fixed by’ CHILD (youngster). The ‘LONDONISM’ refers to putting your feet or your ‘plates of meat’ up. Bert solved this one before 2D – again it wasn’t until the end that he worked out the relevance of ‘plates’. If Joyce had been solving this alone she would have had to accept defeat and ask for help. | |
| 17 | Working on sacking northern musical agent from down south (9) | |
| OPERATIVE | O |
|
| 21 | Means to control piping in hot running water for natives (5) | |
| RHEIN | REIN (means to control) inserting or ‘piping in’ H (hot). The reference to the running water for ‘natives’ is that the correct German spelling is used. | |
| 22 | Scene of confusion, murder victim having been found by bishop (5) | |
| BABEL | ABEL (murder victim) after or ‘found by’ B (bishop) | |
| 23 | With coil damaged, I’m following instructions (5) | |
| WILCO | W (with) an anagram of COIL – anagrind is ‘damaged’ | |
Thanks Nimrod and B&J
Very tough but very enjoyable. And very clever to have linked three solutions to 23/1/26.
I think 11/20 is plural because the more normal non-traditional answer to “What’s black and white and red all over?” is “A nun in a strip club”.
Enjoyably tough which is how a Nimrod (or his alter-egos) should be.
I agree with Simon about the 11/20 plural. My favourite, chosen from a number of starred clues, was 3d as I’ve been using the word to indicate happiness quite a bit lately.
Thanks to Nimrod and B&J too
Thanks to the bloggers for trying to explain a crossword we didn’t enjoy much at all. Too many where even now I don’t get the clue: afraid I need more explanation.
why is chuff a local comic?
is a sunburned penguin something I should have heard of? Or a communist crossword?
what have nuns in a strip club to do with newspapers?
why is in off foul?
Thanks if anyone can pander to my ignorance.
Great fun, though for a while I wondered if this was an April Fool joke where the clues didn’t actually have any answers!
Eric, if you look up CHUFF and IN-OFF in Chambers (or another good dictionary) you’ll find the relevant meanings. The nuns in a strip club etc. are recognised alternative answers to the joke “What’s black and white and red all over” – the most traditional being a newspaper (pun on red/read).
I heard a version where the answer was “a zebra in a food blender” but of course Nimrod wouldn’t stoop to such poor taste…
Terrific entertainment, thanks Nimrod.
Ingenious – but a bit too ingenious, making it a struggle instead of a pleasure. Never heard of CHILLAX(ED) (not in my Chambers, Collins or wordfinder) and only got it by using the reveal button. I knew the SUNBURNED PENGUIN answer to the joke but not the other two though I guessed 11/20 would be NUNS IN A …
Thanks, though, to setter and bloggers.
OK, I was slow. When I asked before I still thought the sunburned penguin must be some kind of underground newspaper as I hadn’t realized these were all answers to the same joke. Still don’t get chuff though, no definition like comic in my good dictionary.
Eric @6
From Chambers:
chuff² or chough (dialect)
noun
1. A clown
2. A surly or boorish fellow
Thanks to everyone for helping out this afternoon whilst we were in the theatre.
Very engaging, clever and tough stuff that kept me at the solveface for ages, though had me beat in the end. Of course, the spanking didn’t matter as I enjoyed the tussle and do declare I will put a Nimrod to bed one day (I’ve even got an only-open-upon-fully-solving-a-Nimrod can of beer put aside for just that eventuality). No particular fave clues today, just loads of good stuff in a style that could be from no other so thanks to The Indy for its great variety, Nimrod for the killer puzzle, and bravo to B&J for working it all out.
Not fun at all. Over the course of an hour or so I got a couple of clues. After another hour or so, I got the big one but that didn’t help with the other long ones, none of which I’d heard before. At which point I gave up with less that a quarter done. There comes a time when staring at the clues just gets boring.
Many thanks for the blog B&J-some fine tuning in some of the parsing. I got there in the end and the grin on my face made it all worthwhile.The O and X was rather ingenious-I honestly dont know if I’d have seen that.Typical of Nimrod-thanks to him too.
Took hours, but fun once I’d twigged to the point of the gateway clue at 23/1/26. Although I often find Nimrod puzzles to be an ordeal, for me this was (eventually!) on the enjoyable side of the pleasure/struggle divide. All answers finally in, though missed the parsing of a few including LONDONISM, COMMUNIST CROSSWORD and CHUFF which you were very clever to work out. Not as complicated as some other clues, but OVERTAX was my favourite.
A big thanks to Nimrod and B&J.