* = anag, < = reversed
A solid puzzle by Hypnos – reasonably challenging without being too difficult. I finished it fairly quickly, but there were a couple of clues I didn’t entirely follow.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Relegate: Re (two letters of remarks) + legate. Quite easy to think it might be delegate. |
| 9 | Top Notch: Didn’t quite get this – the clue is “Superb society acquiring prize around November”. I’ve probably misinterpreted it, but I was thinking the prize was “pot” around “n”, which leaves “toch” being society, but I’ve never heard of that. |
| 12 | Kilimanjaro: Kin around Lima + jar + o |
| 14 | Rent Collector: Cryptic def (the “ready” refers to money). |
| 16 | Admiralty Arch: (I charm lady art)* |
| 23 | (G)riddle |
| 26 | Asuncion: Un in a scion. |
| Down | |
| 1 | Rothko: Roth (Philip, a US writer) + ok < |
| 3 | Goodman: Gan(g) around (mood)*. The man in question is Benny Goodman. |
| 4 | Technicality: Tech (short for technical college) + NI city around a l. |
| 8 | Woodwork: Cryptic def clued by planes (carpenters’ tools as opposed to the aviation variety). |
| 14 | Ram Raider: Initially I thought this is another of those where wordplay is indicated by a single word. I thought malefactor was used to indicate that m was a factor (i.e. inside) another word. But actually it’s simpler than that – just “a” + first letter of malefactor in RR (Rolls Royce) + (idea r)*. |
| 15 | Barbaric: Barb + A RC around i. Not sure about barb as a synonym for sally. |
| 19 | Cretin: CRE (Commission for Racial Equality) + tin. |
| 22 | Haiti: This was the other one I didn’t follow. Clue is “Revolutionary regulars taking part in big trip ache for republic”. |
22d. Alternate letters back in bIgTrIpAcHe
Ah, yes. I still haven’t got the hang of these alternate letter clues.
18d has still got me stumped. I struggled with this puzzle today, just couldn’t seem to get on the setter’s wavelength.
Roedean: Dean (college authority) after soundalike of “row”. Roedean is a girls’ school.
Toc H is Talbot House, a sort of soldier’s club founded by Rev Tubby Clayton.
Cheers!
I did think of Toc H, but the only context I know if from is “Toc H lamp” (as in “as thick as…”).
I think I meant “as dim as”, which makes more sense for a lamp.
Pleasing puzzle from Hypnos – as you say, not too difficult. Does ‘plane’ ever appear in a puzzle meaning one of those that fly?
Regarding 15D I think sally and barb can both mean a pointed remark.
I enjoyed this, especially the cryptic definition 14A where ‘letters’ as well as ‘ready’ don’t mean what you first think.
I think it was the in ‘Goons’ that ‘Grippe Pipe-Thinne’ said that ‘Neddy Seagoon’ was as “dim as a Toc-H lamp”.
(Showing one’s age!)
One of the few Indy X words I got out without help from a dictionary or the internet.
Patrick.