A standard puzzle of average difficulty that was a pleasure to solve in 50 minutes. I have no queries or talking points.
My Whitaker’s from winning M2615 arrived yesterday and gave me a trip down memory lane. At school we used to dive into the library to use the reference books and Whitaker’s was among them. I don’t think I’ve seen one since then (1960) so I spent a pleasant hour re-acquainting myself with it. It is really noticeable how much of the data it contains one would simply Google to find these days – what a change in one lifetime!
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SMARAGD – SMA-RAG-D; (Scots) small=SMA; stone=RAG-3; diamonds=D (cards); an old emerald; |
| 6 | INTUSE – IN-(trou)T-USE; rainbow=bruise=INTUSE; |
| 11 | HOLY,JOE – HOL(Y-JO(t))E; lacuna=HOLE; upsilon=Y; iota=jot; pi=a pios person; slang for a parson or overtly religious person; |
| 14 | PIFFERARO – (opera + I + FF + R=Romeo)*; a crude oboe player; |
| 15 | PIETA – PIE-T-A; PIE-T-A; Mag=magpie=PIE; time=T; A=ante=before; sculpted representation of Mary and Jesus by Michelangelo in St Peters Basilica – stunning as are most of the works in Vatican City; |
| 16 | FOURGON – FOUR-GON(e); a baggage-wagon; |
| 17 | SCROGGY – SCR(O-GG)Y; old=O; nag=horse=GG; to crystal-ball gaze=SCRY; stunted – lovely word!; |
| 19 | LECTISTERNIUM – (is tin electrum)*; Roman habit of putting busts of gods on couches and offering them food (whatever turns you on, I guess); |
| 21 | GREENLY – GREEN-(f)LY; f=force (physics); green=naive; rose grower’s pet hate; |
| 23 | METIERS – METI(ER)S; Greek personification of prudence=METIS; um=ER; |
| 24 | ASSAI – two meanings 1=very (music) 2=acai=fruit; |
| 26 | BRITTONIC – B-RITT-ON-IC(e); black=B; score=RITT; against=ON; reserve=ice; Celtic is definition – the insular language of Brittany, Cornwall, etc also described as Brythonic; |
| 28 | CARLINE – CAR-LINE; saloon say=CAR; glib talk=(shoot a) LINE; wifie=old Scots woman=CARLINE (see carl in C); |
| 29 | EANING – (m)EANING; Waggledagger for give birth=bear; n |
| 30 | OLEATES – (h)OL-(h)EAT-ES; (h)ovels=(h)OLES; warm=(h)EAT; a salt or ester of oleic acid such as ethyl oleate used in pharmacy; |
| Down | |
| 1 | SHAPS – SH-AP-S(himmy); mum=quiet=SH; apparently=AP; short form of chaparajos; |
| 2 | ALTERCATION – ALTER-C-(into a)*; shift=ALTER; cocaine=C; breeze=row=definition; |
| 3 | RYOT – TO-YR all reversed; younger=YR; an Indian peasant; |
| 4 | GOING,STRONG – GO-IN-G-STRONG; German=G; firm=STRONG; |
| 5 | DEF – two meanings 1=brilliant (modern slang) 2=explanation; |
| 6 | INFOMERCIAL – INF-O-MERC-I-AL; below=infra=INF; old=O; German car=MERC; in=I; aluminium=AL; a portmanteau word from information and commercial used to describe long, boring adverts dressed up as fact based programming; |
| 7 | TERRAN – hidden (transpor)TER RAN(domly); science fiction word (Star Trek,Blake’s 7 etc); kept trying to justify an anagram of “transporter” (terran and sport) before eventually spotting the hidden word!; |
| 8 | UP,AGAINST,IT – UP-AGAINST-IT; UP=at university (not particularly Oxford); IT=sex=hanky-panky; |
| 9 | SCROFULAS – (foul scars)*; TB in the lymph glands of the neck – very rare in modern times before AIDS; |
| 10 | EXONYM – EXON-MY reversed; yeoman’s CO=EXON; see “exo” in C; a foreign version of a place name – so Germany for Deutschland or Cologne for Koln; |
| 12 | FEUTRE – FE(UT)RE; as old fashioned=UT; companion=FERE; to set in a rest (see fewter in C); |
| 13 | VICE,VERSA – VIC(e)-EVER-SA; endless sin=VIC(e); at all times=EVER; according to art=secundum artem=SA; |
| 18 | GILETS – GI-LETS; doughboy=US soldier=GI; sleeveless jackets that look like waistcoats; |
| 19 | LAMBIE – LAM(BI)E; BI-2=with chi blockage; (US) old fashioned person=LAME; cosset=lamb=LAMBIE; |
| 20 | TOITOI – (I toot)*-I; island=I; grass from New Zealand – watch out also for “toetoe”; |
| 22 | YIKES – Y-(ra)IK-ES; Scots journey=raik; Bunterism for “gosh” etc along with Yarooh and all the rest of it; |
| 25 | SOLA – SO-L(awful)-A(ctivities); provided=SO; sinister=left; the hat plant; |
| 27 | NCO – hidden (gle)NCO(e); |
I won £25 in book tokens for an AZED last year and updated my ‘good food’ and ‘Good pub’ guides. Next time AZED does a ‘special’ that I don’t understand, I’ll do Mephisto. I like ‘plain’ barred puzzles!
Regards
Andrew K