Solving time : After 28 minutes, hit the net to get an answer to 23ac
Another puzzle that took me a long time to get started on. Nothing jumped out at me in an initial read, and after 10 minutes or so (albeit distracted by watching Australia collapse against India, and watching the snow pile up outside, good thing I’ve got a few days food here), I only had three answers. Slowly they came, one at a time, until I was completely stuck for an answer to 23ac.
Across | |
---|---|
1 | HAGGARD – got it from drawn as the definition, Wikipedia suggests the author is Henry Rider Haggard, author of “King Solomon’s Mines” |
5 | TAD,POLE – should have gotten this faster |
10 | K(IS,SING,G)ATE – that was a complicated bit of wordplay, the G comes from first to Get. |
11 | B(RAINBO)X – RAINBO(w) being most of the spectral colors |
12 | PO(TAG)E – a soup, made from Edgar Allan POE eating the game TAG |
16 | AFTERS,HOCK – I liked this clue |
18 | D(ECO,MP)RESS – Retroactively worked out the wordplay, but an eco-mp could be a member of the green party, and a shift is a type of dress. |
22 | CHARGE – two meanings |
23 | BRASS HAT – had to look this up. Wordplay is H(hospital) in BRAS,SAT, and a brass hat is a high-level military officer. |
27 | (i)BIS – musical term to start the phrase again |
28 | SHUT-EYE – very cute clue, wordplay is SHUTE+YE, and ASLEEP was the answer to 21d, completing the definition. |
Down | |
1 | HAND(=deliver)BAG(=interest) |
2 | GUTTA-PERCHA – a solid latex, and homophone of a gutter percher |
3 | AS,KING |
4 | DISC,OM,FOR,T – nice construction |
5 | TWIG – double meaning, the second eluded me for a while, a small part of a box tree |
6 | DOGHOUSE – another double meaning |
7 | OVA – hidden |
8 | EWE NECK – a defect in a horse or a dog where the neck is thin and crooked. Ouch. |
14 | TEASER(=puzzle),VICE – nice construction, well hidden |
18 | DU(=”some” in French),CHESS |
21 | AS(LEE)P – fast being the definition and a tricksy one here. |
24 | AC(M)E |
I have some grumbles. For example there were no fewer than three vague references to writers: 1A “Englishman who wrote”, 28A “English author” and 12A “Ghost writer”. Fair enough if this was a themed puzzle but there’s no other evidence that it is as far as I can see. A bit more variety please, Setter.
I don’t fully understand 6D. What’s the definition? I get the reference to “dog” and I know what “in the doghouse” means, but if the whole clue is supposed to be the definition then I’d have said it’s “Where boxer went…..” not “Where boxer left…..”.
I’m also niggled by 17. EMIGRATE does not mean “don’t come back”. I know plenty of people who have emigrated but come back regularly on visits.
If I’ve got it all wrong then put it down to my rotten journey to work with a puzzle that just wouldn’t be solved.
The inclusion of three authors had gone unnoticed until mentioned here. I didn’t mind, and the fairly loose defs (apart from 12A which is more precise) are common practice in this and other cryptics.
Think you’re right about 17D too, but I’m sans dictionary at the moment so can’t be sure.
That said, some really nice clues as well. I ticked 16A, 14D and 20D, all worthy COD noms.
Also didn’t mind the writers. On EMIGRATE, I think the idea of “don’t come back” is to contrast with a holiday or other short-term visit from which you obviously come back. Well, it worked OK for me …
6D I’d classify as a cryptic def rather than 2 def’s. A slightly unclear clue, so it was ‘DOGHOUSE??’ next to the clue until I was left with this, 12 and 8 to sort out at the end.
16A was annoying – one of those classic clues you know you’ve seen at least once before, but still can’t solve until checking letters let the cat out of the bag.
Minor extra bits: 27A: BIS is also what the French say when we would say “encore!”. Given the “again!” in the clue I think this is what was meant. And at 1A, the Haggard book to remember is one of this xwd cliché trio: Film/movie = E.T. (Spielberg), poem = IF (Kipling), novel = SHE (Haggard).
I’d find “don’t come back” more acceptable if it had a subsidiary function in the clue but it’s the definition here so it’s not good enough in my opinion. I don’t see how one can define doing something by not doing something else.
I thought this was a great bit easier than yesterday, but had to look up ‘ewe neck’, and guessed at ‘twig’. Otherwise I thought it was tough but fair, as others said. Identified Poe as a ghost writer right away, so POTAGE is my favorite here. Regards.
Was expecting another dog with “Setter”, but it was Gel again – only the other day we had that.
And I’m not clear why he needs to say “English” author/”Englishman” who wrote, unless to contrast with Poe who wasn’t.
Unless you’re an absent-minded music reader like me who’s added stuff in pencil, the ‘bis’ in music notation doesn’t have an exclamation mark. When a musical performance in France ends and the audience want more, their “Bis!” does, like the ‘again’ in the clue.
It’s not the way I pronounce it, but it’s the way I often hear it pronounced (come to think of it I;m not sure I’ve ever seen it outside a crossword!)
The clue to AFTERSHOCK is one of my favourites, so I recognised it immediately when I saw it again 🙂
Close to where I lived as a teenager were the grounds of an old hospital, which had a cricket pitch. The pavilion had a large veranda and one summer evening my friends and I “undid” a golf ball and used the elastic to create a huge (and rather convincing) orb cobweb that covered the stepped entrance. By the time night fell you couldn’t see it until you were less than a foot away and we could just imagine some unfortunate couple choosing the location for a late night cuddle…
Evil, we were.
Thanks for the explanation
Edited at 2008-01-17 05:49 pm (UTC)
And don’t I always think of Nevil Shute as an Australian author! Surely he’s an honourary one!
“with queen in mind” – it’s about a marriage proposal from a king.
A toss-up between 18A (DECOMPRESS) and 14D (TEA SERVICE) for COD. I’ll go for the latter for its neatness, but I did like ECO MP.
I didn’t enjoy this one, because it didn’t quite play fair. imho.
Nine answers left out of the blog:
1a A cracked head? (3)
NUT
15a Setter embraces a Celt (4)
GAEL
19a High-jumper taking a knock when falling backwards (4)
PAR A
25a Grant a basic right to fiddle with (her finances)* 11)
ENFRANCHISE
29a Describe as beautiful now? (7)
EX – PLAIN
13d Suffering with this, space out!(11)
AGORAPHOBIA
17d It’s grand in sheikhdom, so don’t come back! (8)
EMI G RATE
20d Take tip from champion craftsman (7)
(P) ARTISAN
26d Infection passed on quickly, they say (3)
FLU