The fees earned by crossword setters would suggest it’s a far from ideal way of making a living, but there are benefits too. By and large, we don’t find ourselves struggling to meet deadlines. This was rather different, though, as the request came in the early afternoon with a ‘not too late in the evening, please’ cut-off. Thankfully the request was also for a mix of cryptic and GK clues, the latter focusing on a supplied list of preferred answers. The result, as you’ll see below, was a manageable 18 cryptic clues versus the typical 26 or 28 for a standard puzzle. Seeing as this is Times 4 The Times I’m not too nervous about giving my own times – about an hour for the grid fill, another two and a half hours to clue.
Those who bought the newspaper will see the byline ‘The puzzle of all puzzles’, which was something of a surprise to me. The original proof was just a setter acknowledgment – I really don’t know what the amended version means!
Across
8 S(W)IFT, with ‘riddle’ as a verb meaning to sift.
9 CREASE UP = ACESUPER*, ‘hilarious’ as the anagrind.
10 CONTRADICTOR D[uke]+I ‘bound’ by CONTRACTOR, a type of muscle.
13 KERN, a double meaning referring to Jerome Kern and the typographical device of kerning which reduces the gaps between letters.
15 GET ROUND TO = NUTTERGOOD*, ie for which ‘treatment’ is needed.
18 CUBA = CUB (apprentice, as in eg reporter) + A[pprentice]
23 LOW LEVEL WASTE. Cringe-worthy CD where ‘refuse’ is a noun and ‘lead’ is the metal (lead typically used to cover radioactive cargo). Low level waste doesn’t need lead lining for transportation.
Down
1 EAST OF EDEN = TOF[f] in EASE + DEN. As well as the noun, ‘den’ is also a verb meaning to find a shelter or retreat.
3 NUT, a double meaning for which the second leads to the National Union of Teachers abbreviation.
4 ROCKIER = [f]ROCK + IE + R[evealing]
5 CHESTNUT OAK = SUCHTEAKNOT*
6 LUSTRUM = LUST + RUM
7 BRUT = BUT (although) around R, stalwart setters’ abbreviation!
12 I DO BELIEVE = BELIE (disguise) in VIDEO*, ‘nasty’ as the anagrind.
16 RING TAW, the game using marbles. Hidden; there were no edit requests but I changed this to a hidden after deciding the original (with different wordplay) required knowledge of GTA (Grand Theft Auto), the video game. A massive franchise, yes, but if you don’t play computer/console games…
17 DOOBRIE = DO (produce) O (round) BRIE (cheese). Not a popular clue if the message board is anything to go by!
18 Servants unharmed in terrible crash (7) CHOKRAS = OK (unharmed) in *CRASH
22 Cut in two, mixed up (3) MOW = Hidden reversal.
Have a super Christmas and New Year everyone (yes, slightly early, but I’m out of the UK for Christmas and probably won’t have any meaningful internet access).
Anax
I decided to start with this and was having a lovely outing, oblivious of time, until I completely stalled on the gizmo. I’d flat out never heard of it. I can probably put that down to having spent almost my entire adult life in the US where I think the word is unknown, but anyway no moaning from this corner. Plus I learned a new word.
The servants were much easier to hazard from the cryptic and I made an educated guess from the Raj Quartet (chota hasri and chaukidar etc), although I didn’t know them either.
Not sure where Linxit ends and Anax begins in the lead-in but many thanks to both for the puzzle and blog on short notice. Does the absence of Anax over the holiday mean he won’t be critiquing the amateur effort masterminded by Sotira? If so, some of us will be greatly relieved.
I do believe Sloggers and Betters could revive the title at 1ac. And 17dn might be a good name for a Groan setter.
It would be good to see a few more of these hybrids from time to time. If only to show that cryptics are fairer (and possibly “easier”) than GK puzzles.
Edited at 2013-12-15 11:50 pm (UTC)