| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | BOW,WOW |
| 4 | IS,OTHER,M |
| 10 | BALL,A,DEER |
| 11 | L,ASE,R – ASE=sea*, and from side to side indicates L and R, although I’m not sure that there is a containment indicator. With checking letters the answer was clear, however. |
| 12 | AS,P |
| 13 | IN,FAN,TRY,M,AN – FAN=cooler, TRY= crack. A smooth surface |
| 14 | SPAR,S.E. |
| 16 | ON BOARD – very easy |
| 19 | CAR,A,CAL(m) – with CAR as a first thought, this one was one of my first entries |
| 20 | P(REF,A)B – I liked this. PB as lead I remember from Chemistry, but REF=decion maker was good and the overall definition as “construction that’s simple” was clever |
| 22 | GUM = mug (=hold up) reversed |
| 25 | F(ART,H)INGAL,(rop)E – ART = pictures and FINGAL = caveman |
| 26 | OTTER – or hotter with a dropepd h |
| 27 | TE(LEM(on))ETER – this was the last one in the set of 3 puzzles. Rock led me to think of TOR, and I could not get this out of my mind. Eventually I saw lemon for failure, and removed the “on” (though not after I tried to fit the “a” in as well!). From others’ conversations I think this clue caused a number of problems. |
| 28 | DAL SEGNO – DAL = lad rev., S(ing),E.G.NO. Another difficult one for a non musician, but the wordplay seems clear and the phrase seemed to be the sort of Italian(?) instruction one would find in music. |
| 29 | STOREY – sounds like story, clued by “lie” |
| Down | |
| 1 | B(OB,C)AT – prowler seems a loose definition, but it made sense at the time |
| 2 | W,ALL,P,APE,R – easy and went straight in |
| 3 | OMANI – In a mo, all reversed. |
| 5 | STRING OF PEARLS = (forgers plant is)*. The solution became clear with a few checking letters |
| 6 | TOLERABLE – EL=foreign article, BARE=exposed, LOT=group, all reversed (uprising). I appreciate the surface more in retrospect |
| 7 | E,P.S.,O.M. – PS for rider, gives a very smooth surface |
| 8 | M(A,RIN(d))ADE – Pickle did not seem a very strong deinition at the time, but with checking letters and wordplay I could not find any other solution |
| 9 | BEE(F WELLING)TON – written in with a few checking letters. Wordplay came later |
| 15 | RACE,HO(R)SE |
| 17 | ALABASTER – an aster in a laboratory. The definition was almost enough |
| 18 | SCA(FFO)LD – FFO=off (gone over) reversed, all defined by “Turpin’s last mount”. Brought a smile |
| 21 | C(HER)RY – took me longer than it should have, but I think word blindness was setting in |
| 23 | RATEL – hidden in sepaRATELy. The honey badger, more common in crosswords than in life, I feel |
| 24 | EM,MET – an ant (or a derogatory term for a tourist in certain parts, I believe) |
2 comments on “2009 Finals – Second Preliminary Session – Puzzle 3”
Comments are closed.
Yes, “dal segno” is Italian – it means “(continue) from the sign” – which is usually a big S with a line through it and some dots, showing a place to restart, as opposed to “da capo” = “(from) the top (i.e. the beginning)”. Both can be followed by “al fine” = “to the end”, if there is some place to stop, marked “fine”, other than the obvious one.
No cross-reference between 7 and 15 seems a surprise on reflection, but there are other “themelets” – at 6 other animals and three foodie answers.
Edited at 2009-10-13 12:54 pm (UTC)