Four thirteen letter words, none of which were clued by anagrams, and two had tricky parsings. Get these and you are well on your way. If not, then like me you will struggle (12:25).
Following our discussion on the recent “Gen-Y” crossword, on Saturday, The three clues 10,11 and 13 across standout as examples of very tight clueing, which are timeless. No need for either “boomer argot” or “Gen-Y memes” in order to solve. Just excellent constructions, not chestnuts or formulaic.
Definitions underlined in bold , synonyms in (parentheses) (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, other wordplay in [square brackets] and deletions in {curly} brackets.
| Across | |
| 1 | Audibly protested about eg John, Paul, or George (not Ringo) being amplified (7) |
| BOOSTED – BOOED (Audibly protested) contains ST (saint)
John Paul and George are all Saints. And as yet, there is no St Ringo. Ringo’s real name is Richard (plenty of Saint Richards) |
|
| 5 | Noted diarist? Yes, frantically penning page after page (5) |
| PEPYS – (YES)* contains P{age} and P{age}
The number of noted diarists is pretty small, (OK, I’ll give you Anne Frank) |
|
| 8 | Study at four in place of worship, deep in thought (13) |
| CONTEMPLATIVE – CON (study) + TEMPLE (place of worship) contains AT + IV (four) | |
| 9 | Paginates old book of verses (7) |
| NUMBERS – Second definition refers to the book of Numbers in the bible (books of the Bible are split into verses) | |
| 10 | Tacit reform for Upper House? (5) |
| ATTIC – (TACIT)* [reform]. Great definition. | |
| 11 | Rewrite any incomplete clue? Madness (6) |
| LUNACY – (ANY CLU{e})* [rewrote] | |
| 13 | Here’s why, we hear, it shouldn’t be believed (6) |
| HERESY – HERES + Y (sounds like “why”) ; HEARS + Y also works if the homophone extends back to the first word. | |
| 15 | What in tarnation is odd for school? (5) |
| TRAIN – odd letters of t{a}r{n}a{t}i{o}n
BTW “tarnation” is a euphemism for “damnation”, mainly US. |
|
| 16 | Something used in cutting mediocre journalist understood (7) |
| HACKSAW – HACK (mediocre journalist) + SAW (understood) | |
| 19 | Strengthening control for hard stuff (13) |
| REINFORCEMENT – REIN (control) + FOR + CEMENT (hard stuff) | |
| 20 | Introvert, individual splitting left and right (5) |
| LONER – ONE (individual) inside L{eft} and R{ight}
I think Introvert and Loner are not the same thing, but I accept that one word synonyms can always be criticised for over-simplification. |
|
| 21 | Computer program for casual reader (7) |
| BROWSER – Double def | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Philosopher that’s brought home successfully (5) |
| BACON – Cryptic def, refers to the expression “Bringing home the BACON”
Knowledge is Power, France is Bacon. |
|
| 2 | Refer to part of bible in speech for embellishment (13) |
| ORNAMENTATION – ORATION (speech) contains NAME (refer to ) & NT (part of Bible)
Easy definition, but parsing was tough, especially as I was thrown by trying to work AMEN or LAMENTATIONS in somehow. |
|
| 3 | At that point, it’s repeatedly said to offer reassurance (5) |
| THERE – Refers to the expression “THERE THERE”, what one says to reassure someone (usually a child) | |
| 4 | Put out of office, editor upset over attitude (6) |
| DEPOSE – DE (ED{itor} reversed) + POSE (attitude) | |
| 5 | Pacify situation around area, with temperature lower (7) |
| PLACATE – PLACE (situation) around A{rea} and T{emperature}, although this parsing doesn’t account for “lower” | |
| 6 | Lack of purpose? Not so, when embraced by heads (13) |
| POINTLESSNESS – LESS(Not so) surrounded by POINT and NESS, both of which are heads (geographically speaking).
Tricky parsing. |
|
| 7 | Small sailing boat, first of yachts, partly designed (7) |
| SKETCHY – S + KETCH (sailing boat) + Y{achts} | |
| 11 | Subsequently a learner produces creative kind of thinking (7) |
| LATERAL – LATER (subsequently) + A + L{earner}
Lateral thinking was named by Edward de Bono in 1967. It breaks step-by-step progression, and is often what is needed to crack a particularly tough parsing (looking at you, 6 down) |
|
| 12 | Leader of Indians having powwow around tree (7) |
| CONIFER – CONFER (pow wow) contains I{ndians} | |
| 14 | Beautiful child trapped in crèche? Rubbish (6) |
| CHERUB – Hidden in crèche? Rubbish | |
| 17 | Statement of aims about encore (5) |
| CREDO – C (circa= about) + REDO (encore)
I would say a Creed is often a shared and established statement of belief, but a CREDO is a personal statement of an individual’s principles and values. And there I was scratching my brain for why “reed” would mean encore. |
|
| 18 | What can make a wet mixture? Right (5) |
| WATER – (A WET R)*
Semi &lit, as the instructions are part of the definition. Clever. |
|
A really good puzzle to set my grey cells whirling! I spent hours, yes hours, believing 1A was Beatles related. Excellent misdirection – my COD. Thanks Myles and Merlin.
Early start today so came to this after the football. 25m of struggle after 90m of frustration.
I know this was hard as Helen only gives up and asks me for a helping hand once a flood. Then when I cant finish it confirms