Most of this went in very quickly, but then I hit a few strange words with general knowledge wordplay, and after finding them from the definition in the dictionary, I had to do a bit of online gumshoeing to figure out what was going on.
I can’t seem to find the answer to 12 (Edit: I meant 17) in my 12th edition Chambers, though I think I recall seeing it in another puzzle.
Away we go…
Across | |
---|---|
1 | DREAMCATCHER: (CHARMER,ACTED)* |
9 |
|
11 | BHOONA: BONA(latin plural for “good”) outside HO |
12 | AUNTS: SAUNT with the S moved to the end |
13 | TRENISE: NIS(friendly spirit) in TREE(Box – definition by example indicated by the question mark) |
14 | SPIRACLE: (PARCEL,IS)* |
15 | HEAPY: take T, and R separately out of THERAPY |
16 | SKAT |
17 | MOTHERESE: (THREESOME)* |
21 | ODD-LOTTER: L, OTT(excessively) in ODDER |
25 |
|
27 | QUEME: hidden |
29 | PSALMIST: PSST surrounding A,L,M1 |
30 | STEMBOK: I think this is STEM for breast as in confront, then B,OK |
31 | CONIA: ON(as in “I’m on it”) in CIA |
32 | CRAWLY: RAW(naked) surrounded by CRY(rob) |
33 | EXSERT: sounds like EX,CERT |
34 | HARVEST-GEESE: (GREEN,SHEAVES)* |
Down | |
1 | DRACHMA: A,M,H,CARD all reversed |
2 | ROULE: O in RULE |
3 | ANTIPHON: anagram of H,IN,PANTO |
4 | CET. PAR.: (CARPET)* – ceteris pariens |
5 | ABRIN: A BRINE without E |
6 | THERMS: THE ROOMS without either O |
7 | HOICKS: I(institute) in HOCKS(joints of meat) |
8 | ENSLAVE: LAV(gents) inside (SEEN)* |
10 | UNIAT: A in UNIT |
16 | SET, |
18 | OLESTRA: (A,STEROL)* |
19 | PRELATE: because if you’re there early or on time you’re PRE-LATE |
20 | SEA EAR: AE(water) in SEAR |
22 | DIMBLE: got this from the definition – wordplay is DIMBLEBY without BY(times, mathematical) – there’s been a few of them working at the BBC apparently, not sure if they are known outside the UK |
23 | LASKET: another one from definition and it took a bit of googling to find the BLASKETS, which can have the beginning and end removed to make the answer. I tried FLASKETS, PLASKETS and CLASKETS before finding the correct islands |
24 | TENNE |
26 | PIOYS: take PLOYS and remove the L for an I |
28 | MUIRS: IR in SUM reversed |
At 12A SAUNT is in C George as a Scots version of “saint”
I thought 22D was a bit obscure. “Media dynasty” is a bit strong for a few TV hacks who are most unlikely to be known outside certain sections of the UK population. The original Richard was probably best known in his time but will be unknown today to most people. The younger ones are just “me too” presenters/journos
Edited at 2014-04-28 08:27 am (UTC)
A dynasty is a ruling family. The word conjures up Ming, Romanov, Bourbon, Stuart and Windsor. The Dimblebores don’t rule anything and a father plus two sons hardly qualifies in terms of handing the baton on down the generations.
I couldn’t find MOTHERESE either but given the anagram plus checkers and context didn’t look too hard!
I agree MOTHERESE was straightforward but I hesitated because I thought everything had to be in Chambers. Perhaps Don (and Peter) didn’t bother checking as it’s hardly the most obscure word ever seen in these puzzles.