Ok I'm recovered. I have 9A, 17A and 23A in first - my three confident answers. I'm typing this out in the hopes that as I do, more answers will come to me as I go along, it's happened before. In fact - as I type this, I just got the longest clue 5D,22A where I'd had a hint from Mort that the definition was "prepared." So it's going to be like that is it? Will this become my solving method?
As it's gone, through Friday and now it's about 8pm, I've left off with only 5A unsolved despite having all the cross letters. See, I perked up and got some hard solving done. Once 5D,22A was in the rest started falling into place. I always start out as such a miseryguts, don't I? Slap my hand...
1A - Herb begins English Unit (7)
Tad misleading from the start. We want an "herb" that's not really an herb. Are roots herbs? (Ok stand corrected as wiki calls this an "adaptogenic herb") "Begins" = GINS (scroll down to definition #3) and "English units" = ENG to give GINSENG. I took "Units" to be an abbreviation hint. I worked this backward thinking "begins English" = ENG at the end, and 'Does GINS mean begin?' Frantic dictionarying and yes, rework this a bit more. Is this right? Light pencil, erase, light pencil...
5A - Lumber has greenish bark enveloping a knot (7)
"Lumber" is our definition and we want the walking kind not the wood. I struggled with parsing and got help from Indy from DAT "5A defn is first word, but not in the sense of wood. Wordplay is “a knot” (as in your back or shoulder) inside bark of “greenish”" I'm thinking "knot" = LUMP and "greenish" = GAH? Giving us GALUMPH. How is greenish GAH? Is that right?
9A - Spasm after surgery on eyes (5)
First clue solved! "Eyes" is the definition and "Spasm" = TIC and "surgery" = OP for OPTIC.
10A - One hint concerning appetiser (9)
"Appetiser" is our definition and "one" = AN, "hint" = TIP and "concerning" = AS TO for ANTIPASTO.
11,13A - Perhaps court intrigued focally in such a character (9,6,8)
Frustrating clue as it's pretty clear this was a long anagram (Perhaps being the anagrind "court intrigued focally in" the fodder) requiring cross letters to crack into this. No anagram solvers worked for me so it was hard graft and patience. I got the middle word last and do not quite get the definition as a phrase for "Character" being COLOURFUL RACING IDENTITY. I'm told it's used to describe charismatic gangsters with a proclivity for gambling. It's been a week of very long anagrams, did the compilers have a lunch and plan this?
14A - Ready-made puree oddly delish! (6)
"Ready-made" is our definition. "PuReE oddly" is a partial odds/evens giving us PRE and "delish" = FAB playing on slangy synonyms, for PREFAB.
17A - Big Bang account (6)
Double definition: REPORT.
19A - Those folks calling Room at the Top topical (8)
"Topical" is the definition and "Those folks" = THEM and the "room at the top" of a house is the ATTIC but "calling" is a homophone indicator so we get THEMATIC instead.
23A - Local groom, when discombobulated (9)
"Local" is our definition and "groom, when discombobulated," is fodder and anagram giving us HOMEGROWN.
25A - Spotlit ostrich, very taken aback, has head in sand - that's expected (5)
This one was a guess, even with cross letters. We'll work it backwards, the answer is OSSIE which is a variant spelling of Aussie. That didn't seem to work with anything for a definition. Googling I found a classic Australian children's character called Ossie Ostrich. That would work if first two words are the definition - well not even sure about "spotlit". This was confusing for many solvers Mort tries to explain "Letters 1-2 are a word meaning “very” -taken aback. Letter 3 is “head in Sand”. Letters 4-5 mean “that’s” in its non-abbreviated form. I have no idea why “expected” is in the clue. " (bolds and italics mine) So "very" = SO, and "head in Sand" = S and "that's" = IE. How does "spotlit" work?
26A - Best friend pens short magazine story essentially upfront (7)
"Friend" = PAL, "short magazine" where short is a deletion signpost, so we want TIME -E for TIM, "StOry essentially upfront" = O as "essentially" hints to the middle letter of the word "story" and "upfront" tells us where the O should go to get O(P(TIM)AL) so where does "pens" come into play? Could that be the container signpost to put PAL into TIM? It must be.
27A - Great barfly repelled another (7)
I got this with cross letters and thought, no way. It couldn't be that. Too rude by far but Mort at DAT confirmed it for me. "Great" = TOPS as in old Rat Pack "You're the tops, kid" and "barfly" = SOT for TOSSPOT. Naughty words in the puzzles! Juvenile glee! Hey, that's almost a reverse Spooner, isn't it? Is it?
1D - Contracted band, nouveau riche and less amiable (9)
"Contracted band" = GROUP -P where "contracted" is a deletion signpost, "nouveau riche" is anagrind and part fodder to give us GROU(CHIER)
2D - Wood in Hollywood once picked up a Beat fiction (7)
I got this right off by definition but not sure how it's solved cryptically. "Wood in Hollywood" is the definition and the answer is NATALIE. I could see "fiction" = LIE but I wasn't sure about how we get NATA but Jack at DAT suggested "to beat someone is to give them letters 4, 3,2,1. " that would be a A TAN, and is "tan your hide" "picked up" to put in reverse in the grid.
3D - Ran into bar, stopping dire need (11)
"Ran into" is our definition and I'm not very sure how we get there. I think "dire need" is anagrind and part fodder. I see it now - I find parsing down clues while vertical harder than if I write them horizontal then solve them. "Bar" = COUNTER (I'd love to know how Aussies came to call this a "bench") "Stopping" is a container signpost - is it? must be - for "dire need" like this EN(COUNTER)ED.
4D - Bribery secures qualification, written up with Oxford's foremost tag (8)
"Tag" is our definition and "Bribery" = GRAFT, skip ahead to "Oxford's foremost" = O now the middle bit I have a question: Does "qualification" mean in F1 racing to get FI or is there some academic "qualification" that gets "written up" and is IF > FI? Answer is (GRAF(IT)T)O
5D, 22A - Prepare 74074, trebled? (3,3,4,5,2,1,3)
Oh this clue - putting math in the wordplay is not nice! I'm lucky I had a Eureka! on this or I'd have struggled. I had a hint from Mort the definition is "Prepared," leaving us with the distinct instruction to "treble 74074," which gives us 222222. When I write those they look like Zs, but they are supposed to represent DUCKS. Do you see it now? Get "prepared," or GET ALL YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW. Sneaky, wicked but will confess it's pure fun. Oh! Even worse! Husband just told me the bingo call for 22 is "Two little ducks."
6D - Child support circuit (3)
I had this in wrong. I didn't know what Australia's Child Support offices were called so I guessed AMP for "circuit" and then googled that with "child support" and found the Arrears Management Program (AMP) and thought that was a win. NO! Answer is LAP, so does that mean a child's support is a PAL? It's a pain as 5A was the only unsolved clue and the P being right for 10A made me think it was solid.
7D - When scaling, animated fireman spat at dog (7)
"Dog" is our definition and we're looking for a breed. "When scaling" is a reversal signpost to enter the answer backward in the grid. "Animated fireman" = SAM and "spat" = TIFF for MASTIFF. Nice surface here, I'm happy no firemen are spitting at dogs.
8D - Asian tribe lasts in South Vietnam to northern Nanjing (5)
"Asian tribe" is our definition and "lasts" is an Initialism signpost and we don't get many of these from DA. "soutH vietnaM tO northerN nanjinG" for HMONG.
12D - First of all, 11-13-across plainly covers injury of melodic tart (11)
"Tart" is our definition. "First of all, 11-13across" is another initialism but we want the initials from the first three words for 11-13across's clue = CRI and I think "plainly covers" is a kind of container signpost. Then "injury of melodic" = HARMONIOUS - here I'm not sure if "injury" is a deletion signpost to get us to -H or if it's part of the clue to get HARM. If it's -H we can get A(CRI)MONIOUS. I'm not confident on how to solve this.
15D - Cereal (white) planted amid spring warmth (9)
Here's one I put in and erased many times. "Cereal" is our definition and I struggled to parse. I think "warmth" = HEAT and "spring" = BUCK if we think of the "bucking bronco" springing and jumping around at a rodeo, with "White planted amid" = W in the middle for BUCK(W)HEAT.
16D - Breast man? That's an old joke! (8)
No! Not Dirty Dad jokes. The horror. CHESTNUT. Stop making me grin over such things.
18D - 3-down, carrying first-class drop (7)
"Encountered carrying first-class drop" where "drop" is our definition. I got this with cross letters. Let's see: "encountered" = MET and "first class" = PLUM being "carried" by MET so PLUM gets put in the grid first for PLUMMET.
21D - Train tailors en masse? (6)
I'd pegged this as a double definition but then one of the DAT mentioned a "tailor" was a fish and Lo it is! Does that make this a cryptic definition instead? Answer is SCHOOL, meaning to train someone and also is a group of fish "en masse." Isn't that still a double definition? Oh it's rather confusing.
22D - Larrikin loves Down Under singer from Down Under (5)
I had this but couldn't figure out how to assemble the answer. "Larrikin" is our definition and "loves" = OO as love usually gives us O (for eternity like a wedding ring I like to think) and this is plural so we get two. "Down Under singer" is Colin HAY. I'm guessing the "from Down Under" is a hint to enter the clue in reverse reading YAHOO, the icky people in Gulliver's Travels.
24D - Beam in pub, talking sport (3)
How can a three letter clue be so tricky? Gee wizz, right. "Beam in pub" alludes to the kind of "Beam" found in a pub to drink: JIM Beam, "talking sport" where "talking" is a homophone indicator so we want a JIM that sounds like sport, or a place to play sport = GYM.
We are done! Slain the mighty Friday beast. A few niggling bits but on the whole I'm happy with this effort. I still don't consider this easy but maybe that's because I go through the extra bit of breaking down all the clues.
I'm working on a few other projects and will stick to my three a week posting at this time as it works best for me. I've added a few extra links to my CrypTools list and on the right of the puzzlepic I listed a few of the rabbit holes I googled down, like 74074 is the ZIPcode for Stillwater Oklahoma which was not an anagram for anything useful here. Ok that would've been an Indirect Anagram anyway and they're a no-no.
I have a garden to rip apart and rebuild, peas and passionfruit to plant and a quarter ton of crab grass to pull out. Bunnings, my new best friend, let's get busy.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Have a crack