ACROSS
A rather dull and obvious puzzle I am afraid – the sort where you see the answers as the sheet is coming off the printer. I have struggled to make anything interesting out of the blog.
1. DIS C JOCKEYS – (d.d.)
7. RUM – (RU-m)
9 GETTY – (G-etty – JP Getty who gave 50 million to the National Gallery, and saved the Three Graces for
GB. Etty, the 19th century painter , mainly known now for his nudes.)
10. SKATE OVER – (d.d.)
11. EMILE ZOLA – ( *email Leo with Z – author of Germinal etc. , and known also for his
involvement with the Dreyfus case – J’accuse!)
12. MARIA – (m-aria)
13. RECOUNT – (re-count)
15. EDDY -(T-eddy , the cuddly toy named after Teddy Roosevelt)
18. WIMP – (W.I.-mp)
20. TOPSIDE – (d.d., cut of beef, most authoratitive)
23. CHOKE – (c-h-oke)
24. RAINWATER – ( * i warrant round ‘e’)
26. ARMISTICE – ( *crimea its)
27. DWEEB – ( *weed b – slang for a nerd!)
28. EEL -( hidden in TH-e-elBE)
29. LLOYD GEORGE – (two boys’ names. This statesman’s own name
was used as a synonym for OA pension at one time. You collected your
‘ Lloyd George’ – about 10 shllings a week)
DOWN
1. DAGUERRE – ( D-a-guerre -French for war. Nineteenth century inventor who perfected the first viable
photographs, known as Daguerrotypes)
2. SET PIECE – (d.d.)
3. JOYCE – (joy-ce)
4. CAST OUT – (c-a-stout)
5. EMANATE – (<name *tea)
6. STEAMED UP – ( s- teamed up)
7. REVERE – ( rever-S-e)
8. MORTAR -(d.d.)
14. UNIVERSAL – (*valuers in – Is the world the universe? However, it IS used as a definition
for ‘throughout the world.’)
16. RIOT GEAR – (*I got rare)
17. TERRIBLE – (*beer-litr E)
19. PORTICO – (port-i-co)
20. TAIL END -(t-ail-end -‘ ail’ is in ‘tend’. Not only the end of the batting side, but the Rear Gunner
in a bomber used to be called ‘Tail End Charlie’.)
21. SCRAPE – ( scrap-e. As in ‘bark one’s shins’)
22. FORMAL – ( form-a-l)
25. WEDGE – (w-edge. A golf club used for lofting the ball out of bunkers etc.)
Hi Octofem
I read a couple of clues slightly differently:
10a SKATE (fish) OVER (again) rather than a dd
20a TOP SIDE as in the highest team in the football premiership and TOPSIDE the cut of beef
2d SET (series) PIECE (man, in chess) rather than a dd – the ‘rehearsed play’ again being a football (or similar) reference
As an aside, for 1a Chambers Word Wizard gives disc jockies rather than jockeys which I find rather odd. Also, it is a cd rather than a dd.
Post Script
Before anyone asks, no, I wasn’t using Word Wizard to help solve the puzzle. After completion I merely wanted to see whether Chambers preferred ‘disc’ or ‘disk’ and it came back with ‘no words found’ when I input ‘dis?jockeys’. A search using ‘dis?jock???’ produced ‘disc jockies’.
Geoff – I was just being lazy. I read 10a and 2d exactly as you did, just didn’t go into the details. Didn’t go to the football connection in 20a. I must get more sporty – it seems to be a prerequisite for crosswords nowadays. If it isn’t cricket or football it is golf or rugby, and tennis is the only active game I’ve ever played!