What better way to end the year than with a Cinephile? Perhaps by not having the solution printed on the same page (with the number for tomorrow’s puzzle rather than yesterday’s)! Methinks someone has started celebrating the New Year rather early.
See you all again next year. All the best for 2009, Gaufrid.
Across
1 SHREWD SHREW (creature eating insects) D (died)
9 MALORY MALO (Breton saint) RY (line, railway) – Saint-Malo, a port in Brittany and Sir Thomas Malory who compiled Le Morte d’Arthur
10 COURTIER T (time) in COURIER (messenger)
12, 28 HIGH-LIGHTING cd – a clerestory is an upper storey or part with its own row of windows, esp the storey above the triforium in a church
14, 6 FLAT TYRE FLAT (accommodation) TYRE (port)
17 NATURALISTIC N (new) [d]ATURA (thorn apple) LIST (catalogue) I (first) C (chapter)
20 GAVE CREDIT TO *(CAVER EG) DITTO (same again) – two definitions
23 BRIE BRIE[f] (short)
25, 4 FROM AGE TO AGE FROMAGE (cheese, in French) *(E GOAT)
29 MEMBER [ca]MEMBER[t] (French cheese)
30 SURPRISE dd
31 SLEEPY LEE (shelter) in SPY (agent)
Down
1 SYMPHONY MY S (second) reversed PHONY (bogus)
2 RELEGATE RE (engineer) LEGATE (diplomat)
5 GROUND STROKE GROUND (reduced to powder) STROKE (light touch) – tennis rather than cricket this week
7 AVIDLY AV (Bible, Authorised Version) IDLY (in vain)
8 ERRATA RAT (deserter) in ERA (period)
11 PHILHELLENES ELLEN in *(HIS HELP) – Dame Ellen Terry, an English stage actress who became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. She also appeared in last Sunday’s Mephisto. A philhellene is a supporter of Greece, esp in the Greek War of Independence. Byron fought against the Ottoman Empire in this war
15, 16,13, 24 GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE *(HIDE SIN MARKETING TALK)
18 STORABLE OR (gold) in STABLE (place of horses)
19 FORMERLY ORMER (mollusc) in FLY (insect)
21 OBELUS OBE (British medallist) L (left) US (America) – a dagger-sign used in printing esp in referring to footnotes
26, 3 STAR WARS Spoonerism of ‘wore stars’ (had medals on his jacket) – nickname for the American ‘Strategic Defense Initiative’ (SDI)
27, 22 BELL-RINGER BELL (make a phone call) RINGER (clone)
I was about a third of the way through this (in a plodding but enjoyable manner) before noticing the solution directly below the clues! Even so, I still had to look up how “Terry” = Ellen.
After the first few letters in the second row started to spell YEAR.., I wondered whether there was going to be a Nina in the unches. Apparently not.
Cheers for all the blogging solidarity – not least the super-subbing – this year, Gaufrid. And best wishes to all for ’09.