Cryptic 28031 July 16, 2021 holding blog

Author   oliviarhinebeckPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
This was really really hard and I threw in the towel at 35 minutes with one I had to look up (13D) and 3 I couldn’t parse.  We badly need Verlaine, who managed it in 15 according to the club board.  This is just bare bones until he comes to the rescue.  John Interred is probably going to come along right away and fix up the bits i’ve missed or skimped.

Across

1.  OVID.  O=ball.  VID=film
4.  BACKGAMMON.  BACK=second.  GAM=leg.  MON.
9.  PARANORMAL.  Anagram of or an alarm
10.  WORN.  WO=without.  RN=service.
11.  VOLUME.  Double def.
12.  IMMODEST.  I’m. MODES=manners.  T=cross.
14.  TOWN. Subtract HR=hour from thrown=cast.
15.  PITCH BLACK.  Pitch=dive. B=B[omber] Lack=want.
17.  CORRESPOND.  R in cores=hearts.  Pond=Atlantic.
20.  SUDS.  Last letters of operas you would guess.
21.  MADHOUSE.  Mouse=retiring individual containing ADH=had confused (no I’m not sure I get it either).  [On edit, see Pootle infra].
23.  STEELY.   STE=blessed female.  ELY=see.
24.  AWOL.  A wol[f]=endless bolt.
25.  FOOTBRIDGE.  Anagram of get rid of bo.
26.  HANKY PANKY.  Rag=hanky.  Change H to P[age] in second (repeated) one
27  GURU.  Goo and rue – homophones.

Down.

2.  VIA DOLOROSA.  Anagram of OR=men with also avoid.
3.  DO A RUNNER.  AKA taking french leave.
4.  BOOZE UP.  Bop=jazz containing OZ and EU.
5.  COME INTO ONES OWN.  Come into one sow from pig farm with N from son.
6.  GALUMPH.  Lag reversed with U and mph.
7.  MOOSE.  Nope, didn’t see this one, thanks to John Interred for the parse.  it’s ELK frpm feckless reversed.
8.  NONET.  Tenon-joint revesed.
13.  SOCKDOLAGER.  Looked this up finally – DNK the word.  Sock=punch.  Lager=beer containing Do=party.
16.  LISTENING.  Lenin=red containg IST=first with G[olf].
18.  STUFF UP.  Gorge=stuff.  Hike=up.
19.  DISOBEY.  Cryptic.[Another one I missed.  [On edit and thanks to John Interred – it’s an anagram of I=one does by.]
21.  MEATH.  Remove EAD (English ad) from meathead.  Didn’t get this either.  Thanks Sawbill.
22.  DROWN.  N Word=promise reversed.

63 comments on “Cryptic 28031 July 16, 2021 holding blog”

  1. Driving home was one of those trials
    (Burnt out lorry, the queue went for miles)
    Got home grumpy, I did
    Solved that pig of a grid
    Sense of triumph! And now I’m all smiles
  2. almost gave up, but after finally seeing WORN then LOI MOOSE went in simply because it was the only plural I could see to fit the checkers. Could ‘esoom’ mean ‘feckless’? It seemed doubtful, but I pressed submit for want of anything better. Thanks for the parsing John.
    43:05
  3. Tough indeed. I failed to finish, not finding the MOOSE and WORN crossers (also unsure how AWOL worked – ah, that kind of bolt).
  4. And now I know why — so tricky! Managed only about a third unaided but understood all the parsing, with thanks to Olivia, bar one. Probably a very beginner-ish question but why does OR = men (in biffed VIA DOLOROSA)? Thanks all. Glad to hear it was generally considered a challenge, and it hasn’t put me off trying again, well, not quite anyway!
    1. This was an absolute brute even for people who do the 15×15 every day and defeated some of the best solvers around. Come back on Monday if you have time – it should be a very different cup of. OR stands for “other ranks”, i.e. enlisted men. Setters seem to use it all the time because it comes in handy.

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