Championship 2010 – Qualifier 1

Author   sghansonPosted on Categories Announcement

This was certainly not the easiest qualifier I have seen. In the past I have cynically thought that they were possibly slightly easier than the norm in order to collect entry fees – not the case for this one!

There is also Nina in this crossword – Peter sent me a note regarding the eight central clues which read across or down make four two word phrases eg 14,16 Across – Registered Post. I did not spot this – too much concentration on trying to solve the grid!

Across
1 THUMB – cryptic definition referring to the thumb as a digit and approval=thumbs up, or disapproval=thumbs down
4 BACKPACKS – the pack is the team of forwards in Rugby
9 UNCERTAIN – (IN NATURE, C(hangeable))*,
10 TORSO – T(emperature), OR SO = approximately
11 NEPHEW – take(N) hom(E), PHEW = what a relief
12 CELERITY – CELE(b)RITY
14 REGISTERED – RE(GIST,ERE)D
16 POST – I knew this was the answer but struggled to make sense of the clue. Eventually I realised that “at start of term, after” means that post- at the start of a word means after. I had originally been working on post = after and wondering what the rest of the clue meant!
19 HIGH – double definition, using bombed and high as synonyms for having overindulged in drugs or drink
20 PERCENTAGE – (CENTRE PAGE)*
22 MATERIAL – MA = old lady, followed by evidenc(E) in TRIAL = case. Again, the wordplay is not immediately apparent
23 Deliberately omitted
26 CHEAT – C,HEAT=pressure
27 IDENTIKIT – cryptic definition. Now more generally replaced by photofits
28 WESTERNER – WEE R(ight) around STERN=back
29 MANIC – MAN,I,C. C is the symbol for the speed of light
 
Down
1 TRUE NORTH – (TURN TO HER)*
2 UNCAP – U,N,CAP
3 BERCEUSE – (SEE BRUCE). My last one – I confess to guessing this based on the checking letters and looking it up afterwards. A berceuse is a song like a lullaby
4 BEAT – to BE AT is to attend
5 CONFERENCE – C = Conservative, followed by ON FENCE = noncommittal, around ER
6 PATTER – double definition
7 CARNIVORA – CAR = carriage (on a railway), followed by (OR VAN I)*
8 SHOWY – hidden in “depend(S HOW Y)ou”
13 Deliberately omitted
15 GO GETTERS – double definition, with the second part referring to getting = understanding the game of Go. Which I don’t!
17 THEORETIC – T,HE(O)RETIC
18 UNCLE TOM – double definition. The first refers to the character in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, the second to Uncle Tom Cobley in the song “Widecombe Fair”
21 WRITHE – WRITE around H=horse
22 MACAW – M(imicking),A,CAW
24 YUKON – YON = that, around UK = this country
25 PEAR – when repeated sounds like “pair pare” or couple trim

5 comments on “Championship 2010 – Qualifier 1”

  1. I found this one pretty straightforward – and didn’t notice the two-word phrases until I idly glanced at my copy a few days after solving it, so got no help from them.

    Apart from pangrammatic grids, the only other “championship Nina” I recall was in the 2000 National final. This final was the end of Brian Greer’s period as editor and the beginning of Mike Laws’s short spell in the job. A couple of symmetrically placed 9-letter diagonal sequences in one grid spelled out EXIT BRIAN and ENTER MIKE. As far as I know, none of the contestants noticed this before being told about it by organiser Mike Rich, when handing out the solution sheets.

  2. No problems here. Seemed like a standard puzzle to me so probably reasonably fit for purpose. Certainly harder than the first two last year, which probably gave rise to the cynicism! I didn’t spot the beat generation either.
  3. Done on the bus to the concert this evening and finished during Haydn’s “Il Distratto” symphony – the one which grinds to a halt in the final movement when the violins suddenly retune. I guess I’d put a few jokes in my symphonies if I had to write 100-odd of them.

    Got BERCEUSE, as it was the only word that would fit, but messed up YUKON – lulled into YEMEN – which resulted in IDENTIKIT being ungettable.

  4. Glad you cleared up 16ac – I figured it was some ultra-obscure wordplay with a double definition (at = POS, start of term = T, after = mail = POST)

    Consequently I wasn’t absolutely confident that I had the right answer, but apart from that, I solved it in rather quicker than my average Times-xwd time.

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