This one sparked a lot of discussion on the forum. There were plenty that liked it, and a fair few that didn’t. But the one thing that nobody accused it of was being dull. Personally, I thought it quite brilliant – one of Anax’s better submissions, and he has a pretty high standard.
Someone on the forum accused it of being too tricksy, probably, as Dean himself pointed out, because of two clues in particular – 4d & 12d. It’s unusual to get two clues this inventive in the same grid. There was also quite a lot of inter-clue referencing going on – five references across 3 clues which may have added to the overall feeling of craftiness.
There were two words I didn’t know – DIAZO and MONOCRAT, although the latter is a unusual word made up of a common prefix and suffix so the meaning is clear. There are many contenders for COD, but I think 19a just edges it for me.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
Across | |
---|---|
1 | RECTIFIED = FIT (suit) in DE-ICER (salt) all rev. I’ve seen ‘salt’ used for many things – AB, TAR, NACL, but this has to be a first. Technically, I suppose, it’s a DBE, but it’s a good one. |
6 | CO(L)D |
8 | HO + RACE – A Roman poet from the first century BC |
9 |
|
10 | TERRA INCOGNITA = (ORGANIC NITRATE)* |
11 | PRO + M |
13 | CONTRACT – dd – ‘Get’ as in catch a disease, and ‘bargain’ as in strike a bargain with someone |
15 | BOY RACER = O |
17 | REMAND = MAN in the RED |
19 | UNDER THE HAMMER = (REMAND + HE HURT ME)* – 7 (LUNATIC) is the anagrind, and 17 (REMAND) is part of the anagrist. ‘A lot’ is the definition in the sense of ‘an item in an auction’. |
22 | MONOCRAT = |
23 | IN + B + RED |
24 | FLUE = “FLEW” |
25 | WEDNESDAY = WED + (YES AND)* |
Down | |
1 | RO(O)STER |
2 | C + HAIR |
3 | INELASTIC = (LINE IT’S A)* + C |
4 | I STAND CORRECTED – dd – Groans all round here. Istand can be read as a mis-spelling of Island and as such it would need to be corrected. Devious! |
5 | DIAZO = OZ-AID rev – Not a word I knew. It’s a chemical photocopying technique otherwise known as Whiteprint |
6 | CONUNDRUM = C/O NUN + DRUM – It took me a while to work out the CO at the start, but I assume it’s c/o as in ‘care of’. Drum is a slang term for house used predominantly by Cockneys, although it isn’t rhyming in origin. |
7 | LUNATIC = L + (IN A CUT)* |
12 | MORSE CODE – One of those rare clues where the punctuation is important. The end of ‘it’ is T, and T in Morse Code is a single dash. |
14 | NARRATIVE = (R + RAT) in NAÏVE (simple) – I’m not completely convinced about ‘mole’ for RAT. Clearly they are different animals, but in the sense of a mole being an undercover agent, and a rat being someone who betrays confidence I think it can just about work. |
16 | OWN + GOAL |
18 | NURSERY = N (November) + (SURREY)* – 9 (TRAINING) is the cross-referenced definition. Is N a standard abbreviation for November? I’m not entirely sure it is. Thanks to Andy for pointing out that November is N in the NATO phonetic alphabet which makes it perfectly Ok. I really should have twigged that. |
20 | THROW – dd |
21 | MY BAD = BY rev in MAD. Two cross-referenced definitions here – 7 (lunatic) for MAD, and 4 (I STAND CORRECTED) for the overall definition. It’s young person’s slang for Mea culpa. |
N for November is in the NATO phonetic alphabet, no problem there. That was another of the unjustified complaints on the forum too.
I’d come across DIAZO before somewhere; the only thing I didn’t know was DRUM for house. Oh, and the Morse code for T, but it was obvious what was going on.
Actually I am not terribly keen on self-referentialism but for a grid this good I am willing to grin and bear it.
Edited at 2012-11-25 10:25 am (UTC)
I thought some of the comments on “my bad” on the Forum were rather OTT (to coin a phrase). The cross-pollination of slang and other words is a wonder of the English-speaking world.
As a footnote, my younger daughter and some of her friends went to see “Skyfall” and were absolutely bemused when Bond addressed M as “Mom” (as they thought) so I had to explain.
I’m another in the “no self references please” column.
For those who liked this one, there’s an Anax (free access) in yesterday’s Independent which should appeal.