Beelzebub 1,081 (07/11/10)

by

I’ve once again made the mistake of waiting far too long between solving and blogging to really remember much about this one. The lack of scrawls, notes and correction fluid on the grid suggest it went pretty smoothly compared to recent weeks, yet there are some absolutely genius clues in there.

*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.

Across
1 FOGLAMPS – GLAM in FOPS.
6 SUMP – S[l]UMP.
9 INAPT – PAN< in IT.
11 ERECTOR – E + RECTOR.
12 NILL – N + ILL.
13 GRANA – G + RANA.
15 CHLOASMA – (LO in CHASM) + A.
16 PIEPOWDER – PIE + (D in POWER).
17 ALPINI – AL[l] + PEN + I.
20 UNROBE – BOUN[c]ER*.
21 ABOMINATE – I think this is OMIN in ABATE, but Chambers doesn’t seem to confirm that OMIN exists (or indeed ABOMENATE). Detest a form of compensation that carries weight.
23 VERRUCAE – this is a really complex one, but I love it: (VERRE (“of Champagne” meaning “in French”) + AC[e] + U[unsightly])*, and a really smooth surface.
24 ITEMS – [couple]S MET I[dly].
25 FIRM – (M + RIF[e])<.
26 NAVARRE – ARR in NAVE.
27 CRUDE – D in CRUE.
28 ETEN – from TENE, but with E “promoted”, i.e. move forwards.
29 ESSEX MAN – (S + SEX) in NAME<.
Down
1 FINCH – [hal]F INCH, from the rhyming slang for “pinch”.
2 GALLOPHOBE – GALLOP + HO + B + E.
3 ATTAINT – ATTAIN + [defea]T.
4 MESSEIGNEURS – (RESUMING + SEES)*.
5 PROMPTUARIES – (ARE + SUPPORT I’M)*.
6 SCRAWL – S + CRAWL.
7 MONKEY BOARD – M + ON KEYBOARD. Lovely clue.
8 PRAIRIE – AIR in PRIE[s].
10 NIHIL OBSTAT – (LOST IN A B + THI[s])*.
14 ANDROECIUM – (MICE AROUND)*.
17 ACARINE – (I + N) in A CARE.
18 UNTRACE – CENTAUR*.
19 AMTMAN – AMT + NAM<.
22 HE-MEN – ‘EM in HEN &lit.

2 comments on “Beelzebub 1,081 (07/11/10)”

Comments are closed.