10:07 for me. On Starstruck’s excellent new page, Crossword Setters and Difficulty we can see that Oink is one of the easier setters, and my better than average time confirms this. I liked this puzzle, nice surfaces and good mix of clues, low on anagrams (3 straight, one compound).
Something interesting happened on the 15×15 blog yesterday, several bloggers complained that a clue (2d: TYROL: TYRO + L) could be satisfactorily rendered as TIROL (Tyro is an accepted spelling of Tyro). The second letter was unchecked. We often moan about clues here, but this time the crossword editor actually changed the clue in the on-line edition at about 11:00 in response to the blog. That clue now reads:
Group taking railway around mountainous region (5)
TYROL – LOT (group) containing R{ailwa}Y, all reversed [around]
Well played Jason, and a reminder that our comments may be read by the Editor, and even acted upon. Worth bearing in mind.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, synonyms in (parentheses) {deletions in curly brackets} and [square brackets] for other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Gloomy without tabloid newspaper? (7) |
| SUNLESS – SUN(tabloid newspaper) + LESS [without] | |
| 5 | Forest dweller a tiresome customer, they say (4) |
| BOAR – Aural wordplay for BORE (tiresome customer)
This is your de rigeur porcine clue, sus scrofa. |
|
| 7 | Slump in US petrol reversed (3) |
| SAG – GAS (US petrol) reversed
We Brits always say “but GAS is not a gas!”, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that. The word gasoline ireflects its chemical and functional nature. The root gas here doesn’t just mean a general gaseous state but refers specifically to flammable gases used for lighting or heating, such as coal gas or natural gas. The -ol suffix, once common in naming oil-derived compounds (like benzol or pyrrol), signals its oily origin. Finally, the -ine (or -ene) ending is a typical chemical suffix. So, gasoline correctly denotes an oily form of combustible gas—aptly describing its composition as a volatile, oil-based fuel derived from petroleum. |
|
| 8 | Kidnappers on Algarve seizing individual (8) |
| PERSONAL – Hidden in Kidnappers on Algarve | |
| 10 | Perhaps John’s lonely at first in exclusive school (5) |
| ELTON – L{onely} inside ETON (exclusive school)
Elton John, or Reg Dwight to his schoolmates. I now suspect that the ETON-based clues will always appear on Tuesdays when I am blogging. How is ETON exclusive? Well it excludes poor people. And I note that “exclusive” is the opposite of “comprehensive”, so there you go. |
|
| 11 | Friendly duke, one wearing pink (7) |
| CORDIAL – D{uke} + I (one) contained in [wearing] CORAL (pink)
And here is Coral in official RGB code (255, 127, 80) |
|
| 13 | Cold in lorry, very cold (6) |
| ARCTIC – C{old} inside ARTIC (lorry)
ARTIC is British slang for Articulated lorry, which the US (oddly) calls a Tractor Trailer. |
|
| 15 | Went into empty study fast (6) |
| SPEEDY – PEED (went, urinated) inside S{tud}Y
I didn’t see this until I started composing the blog. I like it. |
|
| 17 | Liberal excluded from entire contest (7) |
| COMPETE – COMPLETE(entire) missing L{iberal}
In the old days when there were only two parties, L and C were the abbreviations. With new parties cropping up all the time, abbreviations and colours are all over the place. |
|
| 18 | Order detective inspector to appear in English court (5) |
| EDICT – DI inside E{nglish} + CT(court)
Very nice surface. |
|
| 20 | Manage area in strange regions (8) |
| ORGANISE – (REGIONS + A)* | |
| 22 | Back away initially and disappear (3) |
| AGO – A{way} + GO (disppear)
As in “20 years back”. |
|
| 23 | Responsibility on you and me (4) |
| ONUS – ON + US (you and me) | |
| 24 | Porridge-maker having nothing at supper? (7) |
| OATMEAL – O (nothing) + AT +MEAL(supper)
I overthought this one, thinking that PORRIDGE (meaning jail, as in Thursdays QC last week) might mean we were looker for GAOLER, JUDGE, TURNKEY etc. |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | US canteen’s horrible food (10) |
| SUSTENANCE – (US CANTEENS)*
Although this word can mean anything that sustains you, (air, water) it usually just means food. |
|
| 2 | Sir Lancelot perhaps losing head in time of darkness (5) |
| NIGHT – {k}NIGHT (Sir Lancelot, perhaps)
I looked up the Knights of the Round Table, and there’s some cracking names here. Anyone thinking of naming a baby boy could do worse than picking one of these bad boys. Though maybe not that last one. |
|
| 3 | Thoughtful after Conservative’s last vote? It could be costly (9) |
| EXPENSIVE – {conservativ}E + X (vote) + PENSIVE (thoughtful) | |
| 4 | Well-dressed Christmas tree? (6) |
| SPRUCE – Double def, second being cryptic
If someone is spruced up, they are well-dressed: this is the adjective. |
|
| 5 | I don’t think much of this unfinished work by writer (3) |
| BOO – BOO{k} (work by writer)
I think we might see some Pink squares here, as BIO is also a work by a writer. |
|
| 6 | Greed putting drunken vicar in A&E (7) |
| AVARICE – (VICAR)* inside AE | |
| 9 | Act calmly and lay co-pilot off (4,2,4) |
| PLAY IT COOL – (LAY CO PILOT)* [“off” is the anagram indicator] | |
| 12 | Speak on behalf of Royal Engineers in attendance (9) |
| REPRESENT – RE (Royal Engineers) + PRESENT (in attendance) | |
| 14 | West African country booting out an old prime minister (7) |
| CAMERON – CAMERO{o}N (old prime minister)
He’s only the fifth most recent (hence old), and still only 58 (not old) |
|
| 16 | Actor in study with press, scratching bottom (2,4) |
| DE NIRO – DEN (study) containing IRO{n} (press)
I had the DE and thought this must be a Latin legal phrase for someone acting on behalf of, like de jure. |
|
| 19 | Island judge is very angry (5) |
| IRATE – I{sland} + RATE (judge)
This, and it’s twin “orate”, are chestnuts. |
|
| 21 | Idiot pauses periodically (3) |
| ASS – {p}A{us}S{e}S
If we are going to have “US petrol” for GAS, we could clue this as American behind periodical pauses(3) |
|
Almost 90 mins on proper crossword, only to fail by one letter (not a typo). Blogger referred to top half of it as being a doddle!
Every time I think this cannot get any more infuriating, it does!
I feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall with this.
Most I’ve enjoyed one of these for a while, just super smooth stuff.
P.S, you’ve read/written the Cameron clue wrong. It’s cameroon without O for old, giving Cameron for prime minister.
8:11. I think I wasted quite a lot of time on the hidden word PERSONAL… the rest went in very nicely and was a pleasure throughout (with the notable exception of the living slebs, which rather spoiled it for me. thanks both!