There is a lot to enjoy in this chewy little crossword, which feels a bit more grown-up than some of the others we have had recently (no criticism of this or former puzzles intended). Too many of the clues are very neat and satisfying for me to choose a favourite, and I would encourage anyone who hasn’t completed it yet, or can’t parse one or two of their answers, to give it another go before peeking below – it will be worth your while. I solved in two sittings and (although not timed) was probably the longest I’ve spent on a quickie.
When I solved the crossword last St. George’s Day, I was desperately trying to wring some sort of theme out of it – I thought I could get “damson”, “bastille” and “icon” to link up with the legend, to no avail. Today’s appropriately-named setter, however, has indulged us.
Across: 5, 7 (possibly), 19+20, and 23.
Down: 2, 6, 12
Also 9ac, part of 1ac and part of 24ac – thanks rubculaw
Across |
1 |
TOMAHAWK – TOM is our male today, plus HAWK (it’s no dove!), with charismA buried inside for a type of hatchet. |
5 |
UTAH – this US state is encased in aboUT A Hundred. |
7 |
ALLY – the entire year is ALL Y, and an associate. |
8 |
CATACOMB – CAT (pet) gets A and COMB (groom) in final resting place. |
9 |
OVERLORD – ruler found in OVER (finished), L (line), OR and Drawing (initially). |
11 |
ETA – double definition: when one might show (acronym for estimated time of arrival), and Greek character. |
13 |
MARRAM – male sheep is RAM, going on MAR (ruin) for this grass. |
16 |
SCROLL – SC (small capitals in typography – new to me, thanks to jackkt for the explanation), and ROLL (list) is to move up or down on a computer screen. |
18 |
RYE – the unknown is Y (as opposed to the equally common X or Z), consumed by RE (Royal Engineers) for a type of whisky. |
19 |
NORMANDY – the NORM is the rule, and handy (useful) in a cockney accent is ‘ANDY, which gives somewhere in France. |
20 |
LANDINGS – anagram of GIN (indicated by swilled) inside LANDS (countries) for breaks between flights(of stairs). |
22 |
AFAR – a clue starting with an A is good indication that the letter is part of the word play. Miles away is A with FARe (price to pay for travelling, endlessly). |
23 |
GOLD – this metal is Glimmer and OLD (no longer fresh). |
24 |
PASSWORD – PA’S SWORD (old man’s weapon) for something which prevents unauthorised access. |
Down |
1 |
TEA ROOM – TEAM surrounding (welcoming inside) ROO (Australian “skipper”, a kangaroo) for cafe. |
2 |
MULBERRY – the outside letters of UnusuaL with B (book) in MERRY (very cheerful) for a shade of purple. |
3 |
ANCHORMAN – a television host is an anagram of ON A MARCH (indicated by moving) with N. |
4 |
KIT – working with needles is KnIT, take out the n (dispensing with new) for equipment. |
5 |
UNCOVER – expose. An anagram of ON CURVE (indicated by warping). |
6 |
ADMIRAL – briefly look up is ADMIRe with A and L (large) for naval commander. |
10 |
DISTRUSTS – suspects (verb) is RUSTS (brown coats) after DI on ST. |
12 |
TO AND FRO – anagram of RAF TORNADO (indicated by shaking) for as a shuttle moves. |
14 |
ARAPAHO – thank goodness for the helpful wordplay. This Native (American) language is the first letters of All Read And Practised At Home Often. |
15 |
RESIDED – a left winger (someone on the political left) is RED, around SIDE (team) for stayed. |
17 |
LAYERED – LAY (set) ERE (before, archaic) and D (for daughter) gives a word for in tranches. Took me a bit of untangling for some reason. |
21 |
NIP – PIN (leg) raised in the grid for bite. |
Bravo to Juno for getting the other 4 beaches in the first 2 and last 2 across clues.
Another themed answer was OVERLORD. My clue of the day NORMANDY.
Could you explain the connection with OVERLORD?
Whisper it quietly, but I completely missed the theme.
28 mins.
I took a fair deal of time actually getting started, being deterred by Z8’s guffaws – TEA ROOM and references to the late great Ian Dury – ARAPAHO to go with TO AND FRO..
The afore mentioned cafe is my COD, LOI ANCHORMAN; once it’s entered you can link to host…
This was the second difficult puzzle for me this week and took me 22 minutes.
One slight correction, at 16ac “s.c.” = “small capitals” in typography. ‘C’ on its own doesn’t stand for “capitals”.
Juno is a new Quickie setter, BTW.
Edited at 2014-06-06 01:04 pm (UTC)
Nigel from Surrey
Perhaps I’m stating the obvious
COD 1d for the Aussie Skipper. 21 minutes.
“Eskimo, Arapaho, move their bodies to and fro”, which oddly, also appears as a down answer!
“Skin yourself alive, learn to speak Arapaho”
Distrusts, Scrolls and To and Fro all held me up for a fair while, then once I saw distrusts the rest fell into place in sequence.
COD TEA ROOM for me as well.
I am now wondering if all rather than some of the answers have a wartime connection, in which case I’m missing a few…
Edited at 2014-06-08 08:37 am (UTC)
I’d be very impressed if all of the answers were linked to the theme – that would be very hard to achieve! But we’ll not be sure unless we ask the setter. Personally, and in hindsight, I think OVERLORD, the four remaining beaches plus NORMANDY and LANDINGS was probably all that was intended, but reading your list makes it tempting to believe otherwise!
I assume you’ve heard about the pre-D day crosswords which featured the beaches’ codenames? Unless it really was a conspiracy, it goes to show how common these sorts of coincidences can be (and probably has something to do with the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon).
Anyway, the point is – you kept on fighting, so very well done!