Solving time: About an hour and a half
Another wonderful offering from Dean – full of deviousness. 1a, 4d, 15d and 26a were probably the pick of the bunch for me, but 12d is the best of the lot and gets my COD.
I was held up by several words not in my vocabulary – NICAD, ANCON, OVOIDAL, RADCLIFFE CAMERA and TIS, although once I’d got 3d it did seem vaguely familiar.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | MOTORWAY MADNESS – 19d is MIRAGE or MI (motorway) + RAGE (madness) – very neat |
| 9 | NICAD = |
| 10 | CO(N + SPIRE)D – I knew cod could mean fake, but I didn’t know it could be extended to mean a joke. |
| 11 | HOODLUM = HO + (MOULD)* |
| 12 | O + VOID + A + L |
| 13 | A + FL(O)AT – ‘solvent’ in the sense of ‘having money’ |
| 14 | ANCON – hidden – another word I didn’t know |
| 17 | NA |
| 18 | A + F + FAIR |
| 21 | CONGA + ME |
| 22 | RECEIPT = (R + T) about PIECE rev |
| 23 | ORCHESTRA = HE in (CARROTS)* – The kitchen is a colloquial term for the percussion section of an orchestra, so ‘kitchen setting’ is the definition. |
| 25 | RO(AS)T |
| 26 | THE CAT’S WHISKERS = (THIS WEEK’S CHARTS)* – A very neat anagram |
| Down | |
| 1 | MAN(CH)U |
| 2 | TUCSON = NOS + CUT all rev |
| 3 | RADCLIFFE CAMERA – A building in Oxford, which rang only a very vague bell. Daniel Radcliffe, for the benefit of anyone who’s been living as a recluse for the last ten years, was the actor who played Harry Potter in all eight films. |
| 4 | ACCOMMODATE = A + DATE about “COMMA” – Clues that use punctuation marks are always good for catching people out, and judging by the comments on the forum, this was no exception. I wasn’t completely convinced by ‘with’ being used as an inclusion indicator, but otherwise it’s a very elegant clue, so I won’t quibble. |
| 5 | MAN – hidden |
| 6 | DIPLOMATIC CORPS = DIP + (PROCLAIM COST)* |
| 7 | EURYDICE = RUE rev + DICE about Y |
| 8 | S(ADD)LING |
| 12 | OUT OF BREATH – BREATH = (THE BRA)*, so ‘how you may make THE BRA’ is ‘out of BREATH’ – a clever clue with a great surface. My COD. |
| 15 | KNOCKOUT – KINNOCK with ‘KNOCK out’ leaves IN – another pretty devious one |
| 16 | PINNAC(L)E |
| 19 | M(I + R)AGE |
| 20 | S(TAT)US |
| 24 | TIS – when put with 5d (MAN) you get a praying MANTIS. That’s how I got it – I’ve never heard of Frank McCourt’s memoir ‘Tis |
Back with more later as must dash now.
4d is a homophone – A COMMA DATE being “A meeting with ,” (you might say).
Super blog as ever Dave, many thanks!
My only quibble is 4D where I can see the homophone but find the whole thing a bit unsatisfactory, particularly when compared with the rest
INCAD, the COD usage and ANCON are straight out of Mephisto land and presented no problems. I think 3D is more than just “a building”. As a building it’s iconic and it also houses a truely magnificent science library.
15D and 12D are simply superb with 12D making me laugh out loud
Well done Dave and thanks Anax – yet again
I hadn’t heard of McCourt either, or his work, but it didn’t matter since it would have been a perfectly good clue if it had stopped after “pray.”
Surely there can’t really be anyone who hasn’t heard of NiCad batteries?
I’m afraid this puzzle exposed my ignorance in a number of areas. I recognise the Oxford building, having looked it up in Wiki, but never knew its name.
Sorry, Jerry, but NICAD was unknown to me as were ANCON, TIS and CON GAME.
Unfortunately, although I knew the legendary Greek, this was only from the title of the Gluck opera in which she’s spelt with two Is and I didn’t spot my error until I reviewed the wordplay this morning.
I took 80 minutes and had resorted to cheating on my last one in at 21ac, however the aids I employed failed to crack the clue and in the end I worked out the answer myself. Of the usual sources CON GAME appears only in Collins and only then as an alternative to its expanded version. I’m not complaining about this, only mentioning it was hard to find.
A challenging workout that was rewarding. I wouldn’t want it this hard every week, but once in a while makes a pleasant change
Edited at 2013-01-27 05:46 pm (UTC)
I didn’t know ANCON, but I did know NICAD. Many moons ago I spent some time working with a group of consultants whose entire professional life was devoted to the battery industry. They sure knew their batteries. I never had a beer with them so can’t report on that side of things.
I am having difficulty understanding some of the code used in the blog so could you also explain COD? no doubt when I read the explanation I’ll kick myself.
Thanks again
Typically, for the
quarter ended November 30,9 million,0% last year. for the third quarter ended
October 30, during the quarter, 2010.Brandix GroupMore Brandix Lanka Limited
News..A. principally non-cash charge of $256.
Ennis
[url=http://cheapcoachfactorybackpacks2i.webs.com/]coach
backpacks[/url] IncMore Ennis Inc
News.. 2009 and May [url=http://cheapcoachfactorybackpacks2i.webs.com/]cheap coach backpacks[/url] 31, compared to the
year ended Jan.-Retail net sales increased 66.6 million.