Probably a mid-range puzzle in terms of degree of difficulty, very nicely constructed so thanks to Izetti.
Plenty of wit, and a mix of relatively straightforward fare and a few tougher ones. I thought 22ac was pretty hard, and 8dn required a bit of thinking about before the penny dropped (at least for me).
| Across |
| 1 |
SALACITY – Lecherousness is our definition. Answer also from ALAS “backed” (i.e. reversed) with CITY (the presence of a “cathedral” traditionally being the thing that elevated a mere “town” to the status of a city). Salacity is not a word you hear bandied about in the bars of North Sydney too often – and neither is lecherousness for that matter: but salacious and lecherous are quite common (relatively speaking) so time to brush up on whatever the grammatical term is for a noun derived from an adjective (I was thinking gerund but I know that’s not right – help, please, you grammarians!) |
| 5 |
REDO – Once again fix is the definition. Answer is hidden (indicated by “some”) in FIRE DOORS
|
| 9 |
CHARM – ornament is the definition. Answer also from C (“start to” – i.e. first letter of – “curse” – ) with HARM (“damage”). |
| 10 |
COOKING – roasting is our definition. Answer also built from COO (“gosh”) with KING (“top man”). Haven’t heard anyone actually say “coo!” since 1963 but hey, this is Crosswordland… |
| 11 |
DESALINATION – job for water company is the definition. Answer is also an anagram (signalled by “working”) of ETONIAN LAD IS |
| 13 |
EMPLOY – to use is the definition. Answer also derived from ME backwards (“yours truly being twisted”) with PLOY (“trick”) |
| 15 |
GNOMES – set of garden items is our definition – welcome to Ayckbourn country! Answer is also an anagram (signalled by “wild”) of MAN GOES but without the A (“destroying a”). I do like the image conjured up by the surface |
| 17 |
ILLEGITIMATE – criminal is the definition. Answer is also a slightly tricky composition of ILL (“I will”) EG (“say” – as in ‘for example’) IT, I (“ONE”) and MATE (“fellow”) |
| 20 |
NIGGARD – not the sort to buy a round is the definition. Answer is also a reversal “rolled over” of DRAG (“bore”) and GIN (“drink”). |
| 21 |
REPEL – Rebuff is the definition. Answer also from RE(P)EL (“stagger keeping quiet” – P being standard musical notation for ‘quiet’) |
| 22 |
ERNE – Bird is the definition (erne being a type of sea eagle who crops up more in crosswords than in the lives of most ornithologists, I would wager). We also have a homophone type clue here (indicated by “sounds”) with “gross” sounding like “earn” – as in “he probably earns / grosses 50K a year…” Tough one, I thought, with the combination of an obscure feathered friend and also (for me at any rate) a far from obvious equation of gross and earn |
| 23 |
DECLARED – articulated is the definition. Answer is also an anagram (signalled by “unorthodox”) of CREED LAD |
| Down |
| 1 |
SACK – Straightforward double definition – nice soft entry point into the puzzle |
| 2 |
LEAVE – Another double definition, the second one being slightly cryptic (LEAVES – “most of the autumn fallers”) |
| 3 |
COME A LONG WAY – And another double definition which probably requires no explanation |
| 4 |
TUCK IN – to indulge appetite is our definition. Answer also comes from Robin Hood’s chubby clerical buddy who is “at home” (IN) |
| 6 |
ELITISM – Sort of superior attitude is the definition. Answer is also derived from the wordplay of IT contained in (“conveyed by”) an anagram of SMILE (with the anagram being indicated by “dodgy”) |
| 7 |
ORGANIST – Musician is the definition. Answer is hidden in (“from”) Glamorgan is terrific |
| 8 |
ROMAN NUMERAL – classical character is the main definition, but the clue read as a whole also gives us the answer (I believe this is what is known as an “& lit” in advanced crossword circles but I’m really not sure). Took me a while to see this, but I (Roman number 1) is indeed the “first such” numeric character. Cunning… This one would certainly not be out of place in the QC’s bigger sibling |
| 12 |
DEFIANCE – offering resistance is the definition. Answer also from D(EFI)ANCE – “skip” (dance) “around” abbreviations of English Female with I (“one”) |
| 14 |
POLYGON – Figure is the definition. It’s another homophone (indicated by “from what we hear”) of POLLY GONE (“girl disappeared”). This one tickled my funny bone enough for me to award it my COD |
| 16 |
STODGE – heavy food is the definition. The answer is also an anagram (signalled by “strangely”) of DOG EATS minus the A (“avoiding a”). I’ll have the toad in the hole followed by spotted dick please – perfect! |
| 18 |
TAPIR – Hoofed mammal is the definition. Answer (thank goodness – had never heard of this splendid looking beast) can also be derived from TA(PI)R – “quiet one” (P I) contained in (“kept by”) “sailor” (TAR). This is a good example of why the gurus often say that cryptics are actually easier in some ways than “standard” crosswords, in that the answer can (generally) be worked out from wordplay even if you have never come across the word that is the answer. Thus, I would never have got TAPIR from (even a very detailed) standard crossword definition such as “Hoofed mammal with an elongated nose that lives in South America”: but, I was able to construct it from our old friend Jack Tar together with P for quiet and one |
| 19 |
CLOD – Lump is the definition. Answer also from COD (“fish”) with L (“left”) included (“eaten”) |
Edited at 2014-12-03 06:26 am (UTC)
Re. double definition in 1 down, Sack is an old term for wine (Spanish, I believe): seem to recall Falstaff (or other Shakespearian characters) regularly calling for some old sack. And, of course, a sack is a bag.
Z8 is shorthand for one of the senior pros who graces the TFTT main cryptic blog on a daily basis (his full handle is like a textbook example of a “strong” password). His spouse is the delightful Monkipuzl who is a regular contributor here on the QC site, and who frequently refers to “a bit of help from Z8” etc.
Today’s was a mixture of easy (we experts…), satisfyingly gettable and beyond me. So fairly standard.
Salacity, which I got/guessed is not in my iPad Oxford Dictionary.
Got Tapir but didn’t get why Pi was quiet one. If my memory was any good I would be able to use that again in the future.
And missed many others. Illegitimate in particular. I was trying all those lags, porridges, timers etc.
Thank you though, I really appreciate the blog.
8d isn’t really an &lit, it’s what you’d call a cryptic definition.
LOI and COD to 8d. It reminded me of the old Muir and Norden sketch where Roman Legionnaires are told to “number from the left”: “I”, “I,I” “I,I,I”, “I,V”, “V”. Oh, how we laughed.
Like jackkt and ulaca I put in CORKING at 10ac, so count myself in good company 🙂 Otherwise, a fairly steady solve until I came across what I thought were my last two at 11ac and 8d. DESALINATION took me an age to work out, but once it was in, I saw that 8dn surely had to be ROMAN NUMERAL (which I kept thinking it was), then able to correct CORKING to COOKING.
Nice blog Nick.
I loved 8 dn though, I thought that was brilliant and my COD.
Thanks to all.
Fowl did not occur to me as, by the time I got to that clue, I already had the first E and the N and I was certain that they were correct as DEFIANCE and POLYGON were (for me at least) in the “had to be right” bucket. Had I got to 22ac before getting those cross checkers, there is more than a sporting chance I would have ended up in the same boat as you.
Thanks for your question, and glad you find the blog useful. Please do give some kind of name (or better still get a free user account) – it’s a bit impersonal dialoguing with “Anon”!
Anyway, I assume you are referring to 5ac. Clue was Once again fix some fire doors. The “some” simply points us to the fact that a portion of (“some” of) fire doors also provides the solution. It’s propbably not the world’s most elegant hidden (strictly speaking it probably would be more accurate to say “some of fire doors” – but that would screw up the surface and it all starts getting a bit clumsy.
Anyway, hope that helps.
Nick