Solving time : Oh dear – well I’m the first one on the board at 17:10 and I’m listed as having one incorrect. Not sure yet if it’s a typo or a misconception. And another look back to find it was a bit of both, one I had meant to go back and change and completely forgot to before hitting submit. Yay me!
I found it hard to get a handle on this one, there’s a bit of general knowledge, some intricate wordplay, but what I liked best was the crafty definitions – often I get several by definition alone, that was not the case here. After writing up the blog I have a lot more appreciation for this puzzle, there’s some really fun stuff in there. Thanks setter!
Away we go…
Across | |
---|---|
1 | CULTIVAR: C then (VIRTUAL)* – despite the wordplay being obvious from the clue, this word was unfamiliar to me and was one of the last in |
5 | HAZARD: HARD surrounding AZ |
9 | REAFFIRM: REF(whistle-blower) surrounding A, then FIRM(concern, as in business) |
10 | PROPER: P then the one using guys is a ROPER |
12 | SOPHIE’S CHOICE: I don’t know it as a novel – it’s SO(as),PHI(character) then ECHO,ICE surrounding S(son) |
15 | ROAST: AS in ROT |
16 | VOLTE-FACE: L in VOTE, then FACE(address) |
17 | WEIGH INTO: sounds like WAY IN TWO |
19 | SUITE |
20 | BANK(slope),STATEMENT(something pronounced) |
22 | PLEDGE: hidden in peoPLE’D GEt |
23 | MILKMAID: MIL |
25 | RA,RING |
26 | TELEPLAY: I have this as a cryptic definition, but I guess you could make a case for TELE(tube),PLAY(lines) |
Down | |
1 | CORKSCREWS: or CORK SCREWS |
2 | LEA |
3 | INFLICT: C during IN FLIT |
4 | ABRASIVENESS: (IS,EVEN)* in A BRASS |
6 | AIRTIME: A1, then T in RIME and the waves are radio waves |
7 | AMPHETAMINE: (HEMP,TEA)* around A,MIN |
8 | D,IRK(drive around the bend) |
11 | WHALE OF A TIME: two definitions, one cryptic, as the contemporary one in a pod would be a whale of a specific time |
13 | PLAY IT BY EAR: LAY(store),IT(the thing),BY(up, as in over), in PEAR |
14 | REPEATEDLY: EAT,ED in REPLY |
18 | HANDGUN: AN,DG in HUN |
19 | SPECKLE: reversal of ELK and CEPS – outstanding clue, by far my favorite in the puzzle |
21 | SPUR |
24 | AWL: hidden alternating in cAtWaLk |
My favourite of a very good bunch was DIRK. Jack, I believe the blogger is referencing the anger he feels when he looks back on his entry at 23a.
Edited at 2014-06-19 02:05 am (UTC)
I did however make up a new word at 8dn. Convinced myself that there must be something sticky in Scotland called a DURD. I’m glad there’s not, but if there was it would have been an excellent answer.
Like others, bogged in the SE with TELEPLAY the last in; which I got by George’s prospective parsing. (ODO has “tele” as a non-standard spelling of “telly”.) So that would make it &lit rather than cd. I also had MILLHAND until SPECKLED finally dawned. So I’m looking back more in sorrow (at failure) than in anger.
Really nice stuff everywhere, but DIRK and WEIGH INTO especially tickled my fancy.
My LOI was DIRK, which I’m afraid tilted me more to the “did not like”, though I suppose a clue that teases you with so many conventions that don’t actually apply might just qualify as devious. I liked DURD, Pip – the Urban Dictionary defines it as “to be informed of something important at the last minute by someone who knew all day about it.” which only needs the highland reference to work as an answer.
I thought 3 of the the long ones (not 20) needed a guess first, untangle later strategy – does that make them good cryptic clues?
Chestnut flavoured CORKSCREWS my fave of the day.
Shocking time, and finished with one blank and one error: my error was the momble ‘durd’ (as galspray), and the blank, well, I’m sure it’s obvious from others’ experience…
It didn’t occur to me that TELEPLAY was a cryptic definition. I associated “tube” with TV because it’s old 60s slang so just saw TELE-PLAY. I didn’t know the book/film so had to work it out from checkers and the cryptic – which can be done so again good clue writing.
Thank you setter and well done George. 30 minutes to solve.
Having said that, I wasn’t on the best of form anyway because it took me way too long to see WEIGH INTO even with all the checkers in place.
Many thanks, especially to Cryptic Sue for mentioning the Engerlaond manager there, Woy Hobson.
Cheers
Chris
In one of those strangely frequent crosswordland coincidences I drove past a restaurant in Sidcup yesterday called Sophie’s Choice.
I caused a few problems for myself by confidently putting in Hobson’s Choice (obviously without parsing) at 12 early doors which over-complicated three crossing down clues.
At 13d I’m more convinced that store the thing up / lay it by works as a phrase than individual compenents (up = by?).
I had a bit of a panic attack with corkscrew, think there was going to be a clever reference to an unknown term related to the Irish prison system (in much the same way that there are terms related to the Irish political system I know I don’t know).
I thought the hidden pledge was good but I’ll give COD to 9 for the whistle-blower.
Like others, TELEPLAY was my last in, and like others I wanted it to end in RY.
I nearly came a cropper: like Galspray and Janie I put in DURD for 8dn. Thankfully I reconsidered: it could easily have existed as an obscure Scottish word but that just seemed too Mephistoish.
We recommend the Sophie novel, if you haven’t already.
The trouble with “cryptic definitions”, I find, is that I can never be sure whether I’ve hit the setter’s lateral thinking wavelength and keep my supposed solution blank until a good few crossers are in place. This can make for many blank “virtually completed” clues until conventional wordplay clues point the way.
Also nice to have a crossword with no contentious GK! Apologies if anyone felt patronised yesterday – the reference to the late and much missed Michael Flanders should have signalled that my tongue was firmly in my cheek.
Not really my sort of puzzle.
Not exactly a fun puzzle, but satisfying to finish it unaided, though I admit that I did not parse ‘Sophie’s Choice’, and I’m not sure I would have done so however long I looked at it.