Apologies for the longer than expected break in blogging these puzzles – normal service should be resumed from now on.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SUBS,TANTIV[-i]ES – a “tantivy” is a hunting cry (took me a while to think beyond “tally ho”) which I somehow knew, probably from an Azed puzzle. I still don’t really get why the definition is “more mundane words”. SUBSTANTIVES are nouns or words that function like nouns. Maybe they’re mundane because they don’t describe actions or qualities like verbs and adjectives? |
| 12 | ALA in HELL |
| 13 | AIRDRAWN – puzzled by this one. I think it’s right, as it’s the word used to describe the imaginary dagger that Macbeth sees but I can’t work out the wordplay: “State of indecision blocking Macbeth’s strength – Shakespeare’s visonary”. |
| 15 | UTTER? – not sure about this either. Full clue: “Anti-mine device? Tip of pin should be avoided” |
| 16 | FAY in PERS – which must be another spelling of “parfay”. |
| 17 | RIG in TS – “stuffs old” is the definition here, indicating an archaic word. |
| 19 | ED in (A HARP)* – PHAEDRA is a cantata for mezzo-soprano and Britten’s last work. |
| 23 | hidden in “upstaGED DAncer” |
| 28 | GRID,(LINE)* – interesting clue this as it contains a sort-of-indirect anagram: “Network of lines, with one awry, in greyish colour”. The indirect bit being “with one [ie, line] awry”. |
| 29 | DON in MISE |
| 30 | NOR,I – filled this in straight away as I must have remembered if from another puzzle somewhere. |
| 31 | (MEDIA MONITOR)* – IMMODERATION. Very apt surface reading and anagram. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ST[-r]APPING – one of the clues that held me up. I filled in “stopping” as I thought (hoped) that “stropping” might mean “thrashing”. |
| 2 | U,RITES |
| 3 | SE DEFENDENDO – can’t work out the wordplay here: “After assault, son needed to limit excellent legal justification”. If “son needed” is anagram fodder, that leaves EFE and I can’t see where that might come from. |
| 4 | AIR,ARRET< – I filled in TERRARIA from the definition and then had to check that ARRET could mean “decision”. |
| 5 | BAHA[-i] (going up) – AHAB was, of course, the captain in Moby Dick and BAHAI is a religion founded in Iran and “teaching the essential worth of all religions, the unity of all races, and the equality of the sexes”. |
| 7 | R in (MEANT LITTLE)* – ILLTREATMENT. |
| 8 | VAS,TID[-e],IT,Y – VAS, in anatomy, is a vessel or duct. |
| 14 | GRUNDY,IS,M – “fast liver” is, I think, a reference to the poem “Solomon Grundy”, which goes:
Solomon Grundy, |
| 18 | SAF[-e],RAN,I,N |
| 21 | R in SCENE |
| 27 | VIER – which is the German word for “four”. Someone who vies (contends) might be a VIE-R |
SE (DEF)ENDENDO*
is my reck. It’s DEF (hip-hop terminology from ‘definitive’ as in Def Jam) ‘limited’ (container-ind) by the letters of son needed. ‘Defending himself’.
AIRDRAWN seems to be ‘Shakespeare’s (word for) visionary’ (adj.), which would eliminate the definition part of this clue. As for the rest, I can’t check (as no decent dictionaries here in Adland): but could ‘Macbeth’s strength’ be a Scots word around some other cryptic element?
I can shoulder the embarrassment if I’m wrong, naturally.
Cheers Paul. 3D looks right. I should have spotted DEF, yo.
The confusing thing about AIRDRAWN is that it’s used by Lady Macbeth somewhere. At the banquet I think, when Macbeth is having one of his funny turns.
Currently looking at ARAWN (a Welsh deity) for ‘Macbeth’s strength’ – nothing conclusive …
13A: Surely it’s DRAW (state of indecision, i.e. neither a win or a loss) inside AIRN (Scots form of iron, according to Chambers).
That sounds right – thanks Linxit.
Ditto.