The print version of Dalibor’s umpteenth crossword for an S & B event can be found here: Dalibor @ Derby 2018
Alternatively, those preferring an interactive solve should visit: https://crossword.info/S_and_B/Dalibor_Derby_2018
All this in case you are still interested in trying to solve the crossword before reading any further.
Dalibor may not have attended the Derby do in person but he apparently sent us his best wishes, as this puzzle made clear!
The completed grid [which highlights all the entries linked to the 9,11 gateway clue, including that one itself] is added at the end of the blog.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 6 | SMASH | Situated at the front, film is a hit (5) |
| S[ituated] + M*A*S*H (film) A film indeed situated at the front, featuring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, and a hit too. Most solvers, however, will be more familiar with the TV series based on it. |
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| 7 | AU REVOIR | 11 of United ended setback in attitude (2,6) |
| U (united) + reversal [setback (or: set back, perhaps)] of OVER (ended), together inside AIR (attitude) As they say in France. |
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| 10 | APOLLO I | Many of the common people behind a mission in 1967 (6,1) |
| POLLOI (part of HOI POLLOI (the common people) coming after A ‘Hoi polloi’ literally means ‘the many’. Therefore ‘polloi’ = ‘many’ which is what the clue suggests. More about the ill-fated Apollo 1 mission here . |
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| 11 | See 9 Down | |
| 12 | CHARMER | Womaniser putting arm around actress? The other way round (7) |
| CHER (actress) around ARM, instead of the other way round Yes, that’s what she is too, an actress! |
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| 13 | REGINAL | Queen’s singles hard to beat, apart from first and last ones (7) |
| Anagram [to beat] of; [s]INGLE[s] + [h]AR[d] | ||
| 14 | ARRIVEDERCI | 11 cried out after a river raged (11) |
| Anagram [out] of CRIED following an anagram [raged] of A RIVER As they say in Italy. |
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| 19 | BONJOUR | 9: American group sex must be banned, you are told (7) |
| BON JOVI (American group, Livin’ On A Prayer (1986)) minus VI (sex), then a homophone [told] of YOU ARE As they say in France. |
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| 21 | ABSTAIN | Don’t drink one drop of beer, Mark (7) |
| A (one) + B[eer] + STAIN (mark) | ||
| 23 | SUMMARY | They say the warm season’s short (7) |
| Homophone [they say] of SUMMERY (the warm season’s) | ||
| 25 | BOLSTER | Let Boris go mad after losing iPad (7) |
| Anagram [go mad] of LET BORIS minus I | ||
| 26 | GUTEN TAG | 9 shelter in prison camp after 50 escaped (5,3) |
| TENT (shelter) inside GULAG (prison camp) without L (50) As they say in Germany. Note: the actual dead tree handout has an enumeration error. It’s almost like The Guardian ….. Who else than our man in the Black Forest [baerchen (aka Knut/Julius] flagged this up? Most UK solvers probably didn’t even notice, neither did I. |
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| 27 | ALOHA | 9/11: half of Oslo captivated by local band (5) |
| [os]LO inside A-HA (local band, Norwegian pop group) Nothing to do with that awful day back in 2001, ‘9/11’ should be seen as ‘9 or 11’. As they say in Hawaii. |
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| Down | ||
| 1 | SAYONARA | 11 tell nothing new, e.g. “Mo Salah’s not British” (8) |
| SAY + O (nothing) + N (new) + ARAB (e.g. Mo Salah, he is, isn’t he?) minus B (British) Ah, the inevitable! ‘The Egyptian Messi’, ‘The Pharaoh’. As they say in Japan (and, who knows, in Kiev) |
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| 2 | SHALOM | Within both sides of spectrum: 20, 11 or 9 (6) |
| HALO (20, i.e. clue 20d, ‘nimbus’) inside S[pectru]M | ||
| 3 | TAXI DRIVER | Film team should cut bit on the Thames perhaps (4,6) |
| XI (team, eleven) inside TAD (bit), then RIVER (Thames, perhaps) This 1976 film starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. |
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| 4 | DREG | Roger Daltrey’s on the up, not fully, only a bit (4) |
| Hidden answer [not fully]: Roger Daltrey, reversed [on the up] Is he? Well, he has a new album out in a few weeks time (As Long As I Have You). |
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| 5 | BIG BEN | Landmark of our island visible in … well, in Paris (3,3) |
| GB (our island) inside BIEN (well, in French) | ||
| 6 | SWATCH | Chart hit going to the top position is a sample (6) |
| CH (chart) with SWAT (hit) coming first | ||
| 8 | VLOGGER | One publishes online opposing hacker? (7) |
| V (opposing) + LOGGER (hacker, think wood) | ||
| 9 | HELLO GOODBYE | Male, about 3′ 9”, little weight, wearing glasses, amazing body for an oldie (5,7) |
| HE (male) around {ELL (3’9″) + {G (little weight, gram) inside O,O (wearing glasses)} + anagram [fantastic] of BODY} It’s December 1967, the year flower power ruled the world. Anyway, here it is. Comes across as a bit silly nowadays, doesn’t it? BTW, the ‘ell’ – now obsolete – is actually different in different countries. |
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| 13 | RED CABBAGE | On upcoming CD, perhaps famous quartet will emerge as a colourful one (3,7) |
| RE (on) + reversal [upcoming] of CD + reversal [will emerge] of {EG (perhaps) + ABBA (famous quartet)} A,B,B and A are coming back for more! |
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| 15 | ROOTAGE | Boomer’s gatecrashing, that’s only the beginning (7) |
| ROO (boomer) + anagram [crashing] of GATE ‘Gatecrashing’ has to be split (‘gate crashing’). |
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| 16 | INACTION | Fighting inertia (8) |
| IN ACTION (fighting) | ||
| 17 | ABUSE | Wrong coach – first accepted, unsuitable at last (5) |
| BUS (coach), preceded by A (accepted), then [unsuitabl]E | ||
| 18 | ANDREA | Girl with ear flaps (6) |
| AND (with) + anagram [flaps] of EAR | ||
| 20 | NIMBUS | The atmosphere around is not 100% when I’m busy (6) |
| Hidden answer [not 100%]: when I’m busy | ||
| 22 | SALAAM | 9 healthy meals daughter’s abandoned for a month (6) |
| SALADS (healthy meals) with D’S (daughter’s) replaced by A M (month) As they say in the world of Mo Salah. |
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| 24 | YETI | Once you and I will cross border of Tibet to find him (4) |
| YE (you, once) + I, together around T[ibet] (or [tibe]T, if you wish) The definition is, of course, just a bit more than ‘him’. |
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An excellent puzzle which I really enjoyed solving, with a humdinger of a gateway clue.
many thanks indeed to Dalibor. The puzzle has left me in such a happy frame of mind that I decided against posting the typical boring comment that Big Ben isn’t the landmark; that’s the Elizzzzzzzzzz
🙂
Excellent – and as ever when I come across these Dalibor puzzles I lament that no editor from the broadsheets has snapped him up. He’s be an asset to any professional setting team.
Great stuff. I echo the previous comments. My favourite was Andrea – so simple but I went all around the houses (is an earlobe an Angelum?) before I saw it. Thanks to S and B.
Fantastic puzzle, Dalibor – thanks for the fun, and sorry you were’t able to make it to Derby yesterday.
Took a while to get the gateway clue, but then marvelled at the number of thematic entries – great to get some foreign languages!
See you in York?
Thanks Dalibor,
This puzzle took me a while, actually. I got the right hand side first. The (very nice) theme helped a lot in the solve. I wasn’t keen on “a colourful one” and “the atmosphere around” – not wrong, but somehow not satisfying – I wonder if some computing surface with the cloud might have worked. The puzzle was technically excellent, congratulations
Good to have this to solve despite not making to the S&B. We couldn’t initially make very much of 9/11 but then we spotted what 14ac had to be and the rest fell into place. The only problem we had was with 6ac and 6dn; eventually we made a couple of guesses and they turned out to be right!
Thanks to setter and blogger.