Beelzebub 1,258

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After several weeks of having to blog puzzles that had me wondering aloud whether I’d forgotten how to even solve them, this was a bit of a relief.

This was my first unaided beelzebub finish in quite some time, though there were one or two that I did reach for Chambers just to confirm once the grid was complete. As always, an enjoyable solve.

*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.

Across
1 NORTHERLINESS – (OTHER LINERS) in NS.
10 EPEE – [k]EEPE[r]<.
12 AMABEL – A + M + ABEL.
14 EPILEPSY – PILES in (EP + S[a]Y).
15 DOZE – homophone of “does”, as in female deer.
16 ISOTYPE – IS + (Y in POET*).
17 EXORCISED – OR in EXCISED.
18 RIBOSE – BO in RISE.
20 DISUSE – DIS[e]USE. From “a female entertainer who performs monologues”.
21 BRIQUETTE – [nuclea]R in (QUIET BET)*.
24 MIMETIC – MIM + CITE<.
26 IOTA – [b]IOTA.
27 GIRONDIN – G + IRON + DIN.
28 UNROOF – (FOUR + NO)*.
29 GAOL – A in LOG<.
30 SPINNING JENNY – SPINNING + JENNY.
Down
1 NEEDY – (E[ncouraging] + D[eserving]) in YEN<.
2 OPPOSITION – (PO + IS<) in OPTION.
3 TELEX – (L in TEE) + X. I’m just old enough to remember Telex numbers appearing in e.g. adverts, but too young to have any idea how it worked.
4 EXPIRE – XP in EIRE. I’m not sure how familiar eXtreme Programming will be to non-programmers, but certainly its originator, Kent Beck, has been hugely influential in the field.
5 ROSICRUCIAN – R[ome] + O[n] + (IN A CIRCUS)*.
6 IMPOSITION – IMP + (IO in (IS NOT)*).
7 NANTES – [eleve]N in NATES.
8 EBAY – E[m]BAY.
9 SLEEVE – SLE[w] + EVE.
11 DEPOSITION – (IT IS + 0)* in DEPON[e].
13 EXPOSITION – PO in (INTO SEX I)*.
18 RUMPUS – RUM + PUS[h].
19 OREGON – ORE + GON[e].
20 DEFRAG – DEF + RAG.
22 TINGE – [unexci]TING E[xcept].
23 MANLY – NL in MAY.
25 MIRI – RIM< + I.

 

6 comments on “Beelzebub 1,258”

  1. You continue to do sterling service in a great cause Simon. Thanks as ever to you and the fallen angel.

    There is one I’m still stuck on in today’s. We will see whether a stiff Aberlour helps.

  2. Annotations should have been presented along with the relative clues, as other bloggers on this site do.

  4. Having had to travel to several newsagents yesterday to get an Indie with a New Review in it and having completed 3/4 of Beelzebub, my wife put the Review in the recycling bin this am just before the bin men arrived. Any idea where I can download the crossword?

  5. Hi Tim – I haven’t tried it myself, but some people have reported success finding one or two of the Independent weekend puzzles on pressdisplay.com.

    I’d offer to scan my copy in, but as it has the answers scrawled on it, that might ruin the fun somewhat!

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