Solving Time: About 1 1/4 hrs, though I don't think it was any more difficult than usual. A few in the SW corner took time to arrive, that's all. Actually I don't much care about the time. The clues for this crossword are not so much written as crafted. Join in.. even if you only do 3, it is time well spent.. and there must be a dozen here that are gettable by all normal daily cryptic standards
I have noticed before when doing these blogs that the number of clues can vary significantly from grid to grid. This one has 32 clues, whereas February's, for example, had only 28. I hope setters are paid by the clue..
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as *(--)
ODO = Oxford Dictionaries Online, OED = Oxford Dictionary, etc.
I have noticed before when doing these blogs that the number of clues can vary significantly from grid to grid. This one has 32 clues, whereas February's, for example, had only 28. I hope setters are paid by the clue..
cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as *(--)
ODO = Oxford Dictionaries Online, OED = Oxford Dictionary, etc.
Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | parrot-jaw - P(arking) + ARROW containing J(ungfrau) and A(sks). Chambers defines this as the "New Zealand glory-pea" which didn't take me much farther but sounds like a climbing plant - in fact it is a clianthus |
| 6 | bocca - bill = AC(count) + COB, a male swan, rev. to give the Italian word for mouth. Well, it's in Chambers, but why? Are there folk all over, saying "Shut yer bocca?" |
| 9 | ju-jitsu - U(nited) in judges = JJ, + *(SUIT). My first in, an easy clue given the enumeration (5-2) |
| 10 | mozarab - MAR + A B(ishop) containing OZ, where Judy went and Dame Edna comes from |
| 11 | whort - desert (as in just deserts) = WORTH, with the H moved. It is short for whortleberry, a name for several plants including the bilberry |
| 12 | dukhobors - DR(ive) + S(ucceeded), containing UK HOBO. I hadn't thought of DR as an abbreviation for drive, but Chambers helpfully (for once) says "as in street names." |
| 14 | cit - (nervous) TIC, rev. A term of dislike aimed by aristocrats at those townsmen who (like me) had to work for a living. Quite familiar to the Georgette Heyer brigade.. |
| 15 | obsidionary - OBS(olete) + current = I + D( |
| 17 | pourparlers - serve tea = POUR + R(ight) in PALE, + R(oyal) S(ociety). It's a French word, used in English about as often as bocca |
| 19 | bye - well it's a dd; the word "Team" would seem to be redundant, in that the clue works just as well without it, though technically byes do indeed accrue to a (cricket) team and not the individual batsmen |
| 20 | Lermontov - room = RM in LEON T(rotsky), + O + V(ersus). The one Russian poet I've actually heard of |
| 22 | Qatar - khat, or QAT, + A(utonomous) R(epublic). Where my daughter lives |
| 24 | mitzvah - OK, this is HAVE ZE TIME, rev. and with all the E(nglish) removed.. fortunately one of the better known Hebrew words. It does mean a good deed, but also translates as "duty." Bar Mitzvah means "man duty" |
| 26 | trigram - TRIG(onometry) + stuff = RAM |
| 27 | Rydal - LADY + R(uns) all rev. A village in the Lake District that William Wordsworth lived in |
| 28 | aphyllous - dirty = SULLY containing O(ld), + H(usband) + father = PA, all of it rev. It's a botanical word referring to absence of foliage |
Down | |
| 1 | pi-jaw - hand = PAW, containing IJ, the forerunners of KL and M.. for another word familiar to the Heyer fans. |
| 2 | rajpoot - a magistrate = A JP in origin = ROOT. I would spell it Rajput |
| 3 | octothorp - for infant, company = PRO + TOT + CO, all rev. and containing H(ospital). An interesting word for the symbol #, not to be found in Chambers, but it is in Collins and the OED. Of recent but nevertheless obscure coining |
| 4 | jeux d'esprit - What is this, a language lesson?! It is *(EXPIRED JUST) and another easy clue since we have seen it before, in last May's Club Monthly |
| 5 | wem - people in general = WE + M(ass). The word is an old corruption of womb, used to mean corporation, belly or tum.. |
| 6 | bazoo - B(uenos) A(ires) + ZOO. It is rather crude American slang for mouth, hence the reference to "the other 6," ie 6ac |
| 7 | cordoba - my = good heavens = COR, + party = DO, + poor = BA( |
| 8 | albespyne - perhaps bitter = ALE, containing live = BE + plant = mole = SPY. |
| 13 | kidney vetch - complaint = KVETCH (more Yiddish!) containing I'D, + desire = YEN rev. |
| 14 | copolymer - arrival = COMER containing college = POLY. A copolymer is a chemical compound, as distinct from a mixture or emulsion |
| 16 | obsequial - OB'S + one = I in EQUAL |
| 18 | uprated - U + PRATED |
| 19 | botargo - T(urnip) in pig = BOAR, + GO, one of the greatest "games" of the world, one of the few rivals to chess in its deceptively complex simplicity. Botargo is cured pressed fish roe. Yuk.. |
| 21 | orval - cricket ground = R(un) in OVAL. An old word for a sage (hence the "forgotten?") and not just a fine Belgian beer after all |
| 23 | ramus - hidden in foR AMUSement. |
| 25 | hoa - HoOkAh. I have no clue how this word could be used to express moderation.. possibly akin to "Whoa?" Ie requesting a horse to moderate its behaviour? In which case, serves you right for getting on something that goes fast but has no brake pedal... |