Answers to Crosaire No. 13780 - 27 Feb 09

Oh dear. I didn’t do so well today. I raced through three quarters of the puzzle then came to a grinding halt in the southeast corner. In the end I had to pop in a few guesses, and one of those was wrong (29D: PUREST). I was close, but I didn’t get the proverbial cigar.

My favorite clue was 14A: GATE, just because of the reference to Watergate. I love a juicy scandal. I haven’t seen Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon yet, but can’t wait to do so.

The lesson of the day for me came in 27D: TESTER, where I found out that a Tester Bed is one with a canopy, dating back to the Elizabethan period.

Here are my answers. Please jump into the conversation using the comment box below, or send me an email. We’re getting someone new popping in everyday now, which is very gratifying. You are all very welcome.

Across
1: EST-I-MATED
It is in Latin (EST) + I got married (I MATED) = roughly (ESTIMATED)
9: COR(O)NA
A round (O) in an anagram of acorn (CORNA) = around the sun (CORONA)
10: DUMP-LING
Offload overboard (DUMP) + the fish (LING) = something made of batter (DUMPLING)
11: A-SCENT
12: MIRROR
Did you know that in the final chapter of Animal Farm, the pigs took out a subscription to the Daily Mirror?
14: GATE
You go through a GATE, and Water-GATE caused no end of trouble for Tricky Dicky in the US.
15: THY-ME
Your (THY) + myself (ME) = THYME. "Where the wild thyme blows" is a quotation from Shakespeare, and no, I had never heard of it.
16: ST-RAKE
Street (ST) + scratcher (RAKE) = STRAKE, and a STRAKE wheel was a design used in the 1600s, that looked much like a wheel on a cart (I just found out).
18: IN-SISTS
In bags, in the medical world is “in cysts”, which sounds like INSISTS, or maintains.
21: L(ADDERS)
24: DOCKER
A DOCKER works at a port, and a DOCKER docks, or cuts, the tail of an animal.
26: ENTER
A carp(ENTER) works in wood, and ENTER is to come in.
30: NOV-A
Short month (NOV) + A = NOVA, a star that has suddenly “popped”.
31: ERE-BUS
Ever (ERE) + transport (BUS) = EREBUS, a Greek God of Darkness, who some say resided down in Hades. I had to guess this one. My Greek and Roman mythology leaves a lot to be desired, an awful lot in fact.
32: ENLIST … anagram of “silent”
33: INT(RUDE)S
Isn’t polite (RUDE) in the middle of an anagram of “tins” (INTS) = INTRUDES, comes uninvited. 34: S(HEAR)S
Get word (HEAR) in a ship (SS) = SHEARS, a “cutter”
35: REARRESTS
Back (REAR) + what are left (REST-S) = REARRESTS, where a copper brings you in again.

Down
2: STUP-ID
Puts up i.e. reversed (STUP) + I would (I’D) = STUPID, or silly
3: I’M-PART
Being (I’M) + not all there (PART) = IMPART, pass it on
4: A-VIA-RY
A byway (A VIA) + RY = AVIARY, a flight cage
5: EN(GAG)ED
A conversation stopper (GAG) with an anagram of “need” about it (ENED) = ENGAGED, when one is given a ring
6: CORSET
A CORSET is another name for stays, and CORSET sounds like “course it”
7: TOLERATE
8: PAST TENSE
I liked this one a lot. The clue is short and sweet, but totally descriptive of the answer. “Was” is the PAST TENSE of “is”.
11: AT SEA
13: OHMS
Electrical resistance is measured in ohms. I am missing the rest of the clue, and will need help. “Being put on an Irish letter”? Is this a reference to Ogham writing perhaps?
UPDATE: Mike and Amy (see comment below) point out that OHMS is also an acronym commonly stamped on envelopes bearing official government letters within the British Commonwealth: On Her Majesty's Service. My guess is that there would be "resistance" to stamping that on an Irish letter! Now I can see what a clever clue this is. Thank you , Mike and Amy!
17: WILD BEAST
This isn’t very cryptic, unless I missed it. A WILD BEAST is not domestic, as simple as that.
19: SO-CALLED
Like this (SO) + summoned (CALLED) = SO-CALLED, a.k.a.
20: TA-ROT
Thanks (TA) + decay (ROT) = TAROT, as in cards
22: DEER
Rush (REED) up, or backwards, is DEER, which could be a buck.
23: SEASIDE
25: ENS(UR)E
An anagram of “seen” (ENSE) about UR = ENSURE, to make certain
27: TESTER
A TESTER conducts a trial, but I had no idea what the “spread over the bed” refers to. It turns out that a TESTER bed is one with a canopy. Who knew? I certainly didn’t.
28: REFUSE
To REFUSE means “won’t” do, and REFUSE is rubbish.
29: PUREST
I am completely lost here, and have no clue what this means. I guessed wrongly and put in “surest”, and crashed and burned. Someone just has to explain this one to me.
UPDATE: Tommy M (commenting below) pointed out that this clue refers to Thomas Gray's poem Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. The line quoted is "Full many a gem of purest ray serene". I think I studied the poem at school, but that was many moons ago.