Greetings from New Caledonia, where Mrs. Novice (there’s some scope for wordplay in there somewhere) and I are currently holidaying. A delightful piece of France in the South Pacific, here you can sit under a palm tree tucking into a perfect andouillette and gazing out at a coral reef lagoon, prior to humiliating yourself on the (quite demanding) local golf course. And it’s just a two and a half hour flight from Sydney (which I guess is not much use if you live in Croydon but is pretty handy if you are a francophile based down under…)
Anyway, on with the blog. Pretty much straight up and down military medium I thought, but with the odd one darting away off the seam to keep you on your toes (apologies to non cricketers, but there seems to be widespread use of cricket terminology in Times crosswords so I hope the odd analogy is acceptable). Couple of quite amusing ones – enjoyed 6 dn and 15 ac. And a palindrome lobbed in to boot! Plenty to like, so thanks to Flamande. Apologies but have still not worked out how to include definitions – despite template and guidance from Ian (sorry, I’m just a complete dummy on this kind of stuff): hope to have this resolved next time.
Across |
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DAMSON – “Fruit” is definition. Wordplay also giving the answer is DAM (“nuts” – MAD – backwards – i.e. “returned”) and “boy” giving SON |
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PLEASURE – “Delight” is definition. Wordplay is PURE (“utter”) “going round” LEAS (“fields” – where the lowing herd winds slowly…) |
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FALLEN – “Stumbled” is definition (On edit: but see further jackkt comment below on this). Wordplay is FEN (“boggy area”) with ALL (“everyone”) stuck in it |
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BASTILLE – “French prison once” is definition. Wordplay is TILL (“container of cash”) found in BASE (“lowly”) |
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ICON – “Computer symbol” is definition. Answer also constructed from “I” with CON (meaning “study” – somewhat obscure bit of vocabulary but seems to crop up quite a lot in crosswordland) |
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PATCHING – “Mending” is definition. The answer is an anagram (signalled by “in disarray”) of “giant chap” but missing an “a” – “one article mislaid” |
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PASSPORT – “Official document” is definition. Answer also (somewhat jokily) shown in (“reveals”) PA’S SPORT (i.e. “old man’s game”). Well, it made me chuckle… |
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SARK – “Island” is definition (or at least an exemplar). Wordplay is S (abbreviation of “Southern”) with (“near”) ARK (“vessel full of animals”) |
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JIGGERED – “Tired” is definition. Wordplay is JIGGED (“did lively dance”) “round” RE (“about”). Have not heard this word in day to day usage for upwards of 30 years: it was a favourite of my father, who used it if Mother was in earshot (but would resort to earthier alternatives when she was not). So, useful bit of vocabulary to have in the kitbag when taking tea with one’s Great Aunt |
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DONATE – “Give” is definition. Wordplay is DON (“teacher”) with A (“top grade”) “before” TE (i.e. first “half” of “term”) |
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CREDITOR – “he’s owed money” is definition. Wordplay is CR (abbreviation of “councillor”) with (“meets”) EDITOR (“top journalist”) |
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ATTEST – “Witness” is definition. Wordplay is AT with TEST (international cricket match). Not the most inspiring clue of the day… |
Down |
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FLEA – “Jumper” is the definition (as in the insect with its predilection for leaping around: other “jumpers” in crosswordland can be frogs, kangaroos and the like). The wordplay is FLE (“mischievous type” – ELF – backwards – “getting up”) with A |
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HASTINGS – “battle site” is definition (or exemplar). The wordplay is HAS (“experiences”) with TINGS (“sounds of bells”). More of a ding dong than a ting man myself, but fair enough, I suppose… |
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PULL-UP – The whole clue is a kind of double definition – and ingenious at that. A PULL-UP is an exercise on a bar in the gym (or elsewhere for that matter – how robust are your curtain rods?): “one way or another” indicates the delightful palindrome |
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DEFECT – straightforward double definition: further explanation probably superfluous |
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MALL – “shopping arcade” is the definition. The answer is also constructed from SMALL (“modest”) without its first letter S (“head away”) |
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ONE-LINER – Another double definition kind of clue – liked this one for its wit. A cruise company with just one liner would indeed be a “very modest” outfit: and we all enjoy a good one-liner… |
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CRASH OUT – Bit of a complex construction here. “Sleep” gives the definition. The wordplay is CR (“cry briefly” – i.e. without its last letter) with another (“again”) “cry” (this time SHOUT) “after A” |
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AIR – “song” is the definition with the answer also derived from the first letters (“introductions”) of “an indie rock“. Conjures up a pleasing image of our MC saying “and now ladies and gentlemen, Death Cab For Cutie will give us their rendition of ‘Londonderry Air'” (Stranger things have happened…) |
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HYSTERIA – “Overexcitement” is the definition. The answer is also an anagram (signalled by “spreading”) of “this year” |
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OBJECT – Double definition. “Thing” is an object, and also object is here used in the sense of objecting to (“minding”) – as in “do you mind if I smoke?”, to which the classic answer was “Smoke? Sir, you can burst into flames for all I care” |
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TAGGED – “with label attached” is the definition. The answer is also an anagram (signalled by “fancy”) of “gadget” |
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PALE – “Sickly looking” is the definition (although those who consider themselves to be “pale and interesting” might take issue with this…) The wordplay is PAL (“friend”) with E (abbreviation of – “little” – “energy”) |
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ETON – “school” is the definition. The answer is also derived from every other letter (i.e. “regularly”) of “went round“ |
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I looked twice at ‘stumbled’ = FALLEN but I think it works in a figurative sense with reference to sinning, for example.
Edited at 2014-04-23 05:52 am (UTC)
Edited at 2014-04-23 07:13 am (UTC)
This was spot on for me in difficulty; many required a second look, a couple really had me scratching my head, but all solved and good fun.
Never heard JIGGERED before. Enjoyed PASSPORT, CRASHED OUT (eventually), ONE LINER and FLEA.
Thanks Chris for solving the keyboard problem, which also occurs on my android phone. Hopefully the option to print won’t be too long coming.
Je vous remercie, M le Novice, pour un blog tres exact. Bonnes vacances!!