Solving Time: About 22 minutes. We have another offering from the 1960s today, as the second qualifier is published. I thought this a pleasant, essentially fair crossword, if a little strange in places. It didn’t seem at all difficult, so I was rather startled on entering it this morning to be told I have two wrong. I can’t see any typos, so unless I see something as I do the blog, suggestions will be welcomed..on edit: see 4dn, 15dn.. stupid boy!
The qualifier can be found here, thanks mc. I will blog it later, and publish when the solution becomes available.
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–), homophones indicated in “”
ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online
Across | |
---|---|
1 |
standard – seek election = STAND + A R( |
5 | wallop – everything = ALL in captive = POW rev. |
9 | counsels – COUNSELS. I confess I looked this up, though if I’d had all the checkers in place I think it might have been gettable. |
10 | sample – MP in SALE (Cheshire). |
12 | Edith – hidden in bED I THought. I assumed the sleeping bit was just padding to improve the surface, but it might in fact be a reference to Matthew 9, 24-26: “He said unto them, Depart: for the girl is not dead, but sleeps. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put outside, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the fame of this went abroad into all that land.” |
13 | eglantine – *(INELEGANT) |
14 | presentiment – hmm, not a cd or a dd, just a d really.. even for those days, a little odd. Not an easy clue to check, if you’re trying to find an error! |
18 | stage manager – *(GERMAN AGATES) |
21 | land-reeve – *(REVEALED IN) .. but with a surplus I, presumably accounted for by the “mostly” |
23 |
arrow – school = ( |
24 | exarch – EX + ARCH. An exarch is one of various kinds of satrap or provincial governer |
25 | Wendover – WEND + OVER |
26 | sodden – rum = ODD in S, E & N. I wondered if this is one I got wrong, since really the clue should say “soaked.” |
27 |
estrange – EST( |
Down | |
1 |
sicker – SICKER( |
2 | Anubis – A NUB IS. Anubis is the doggy-headed member of the Egyptian pantheon |
3 | discharge – D IS CHARGE – nowadays it would have to be “An old penny is…” |
4 | roller-skates – a jocular cd, but I carelessly put “roller-skater,” and I think that’s one of my two errors |
6 | again – a success = A GAIN |
7 | lop-sided – *(ODD PILES) |
8 | presents – *(TEN) in papers = PRESS |
11 | Plantagenets – *(AGENT) in stars = PLANETS. Though they don’t of course, not for me at any rate |
15 | Icelander – but stupidly I put IRELANDER for my other mistake.. just didn’t notice the dual possibility. The word does exist, but I’m not sure if it’s in the “usual sources” or not. It isn’t in ODO, which helpfully says “Did you mean Icelander?” |
16 | psalters – footnote = PS + ALTERS |
17 | mainland – sea = MAIN + country = LAND. A simple but neat clue |
19 |
graven – G + RAVEN. I wondered if I had this one right, since the G is not really explained.. is it meant to be FINISHIN( |
20 |
swerve – *(V( |
22 | ruche – CH in RUE, CH being a Companion of Honour |
(P.S. I assumed that reading FINISHING as “Finish ‘ING'” was one of those things which was acceptable in those days).
*OK, me
Edited at 2013-06-13 12:21 am (UTC)
I was sure that I remembered Sister James mentioning craven images in our daily primary school religious instruction. If I’d paid more attention to her instead of staring at the sweep second hand for the entire excruciating forty minutes, I’d have nailed this one.
Jerry, SODDEN can be a verb so 26ac is okay.
PRESENTIMENT may be familiar to fans of Coward’s most famous play “Private Lives” in which it comes up more than once.
Edited at 2013-06-12 08:05 am (UTC)
Just about to delete my earler post. So if anyone wants to find 25499, today’s qualifier puzzle, it’s at:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/multimedia/archive/00421/Crossword_Champions_421191a.pdf
On edit: opps, just noticed that Jerry already gave that link in his preamble. Sorry.
Edited at 2013-06-12 09:52 am (UTC)
I felt this was much closer to the flavour of the crosswords I was doing some five years later, and conformed more closely to the current “rules” than the previous antique. CoD to ROLLER SKATES, clever enough to keep me guessing even with most of the checkers in place but which would stand well in modern grids.
I needed a few minutes at the end to work out what set before the raven but G made more sense than anything else.
Are any of the setters from this period still with us, does anyone know?
On hearing the news today that the world’s oldest man died today (aged 116) a colleague of mine asked how many people born in the 19th century are still alive. Not many of course – Google estimates the number of supercentenarians (> 110 years old) as 200-350.
Joint CODs to Psalters and Estrange.
Seeing inelegant/eglantine and the Harrow school in this puzzle and recent ones makes me wonder just how many times they’ve appeared over the years!
Edited at 2013-06-12 11:39 am (UTC)
I’ve been familiar with ICELAND/IRELAND for ages (probably picked the wrong one many years ago), and had little hesitation in plumping for ICELANDER.
I’m not convinced about the biblical reference for EDITH.
Although I did the blog in the morning I solved the crossword after midnight and both my mistakes were just tired slips, really. I wonder if it might be easier to make mistakes, solving this style of crossword.. quite a lot have been reported.
Edited at 2013-06-12 11:56 pm (UTC)