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Across
1 The IV chambers are in heat (5)
4 For example, Cashel's "Blue Duck" goes well with veggies (6,3)
9 Much of this is about nothing (3)
10 He Ran It with Beer!!! A bygone headline? (6,5)
11 See a senior about Mark (4)
12 Into yelling, after the French were so prejudiced (10)
14 Would Kapitaen Nemo move about with this? (1-4)
15 Apollo cursed her, and loved her to see the fool and the artist (9)
17 One of the seven arranged a rent scam (9)
21 Thanks to half the team it makes sense (5)
23 Bore Can Win!!! An upcoming headline? (5,5)
24 This way on board is banned, I hear (4)
27 Acknowledge the truth this way, with pride and with prejudice (11)
28 It's crazy here at no. 26, round after round (3)
29 The English lady and the American soldier sit back with Ed ... a very PC picture (9)
30 With Kay gone, Ken and Susan come next (5)
Down
1 Contests that Heather's not keeping her word (5)
2 Where the waters meet, do something fruity (7)
3 Back, but with a big player (4)
4 There's something incessantly stylish about Ronald (7)
5 Mother left the mediators in charge (7)
6 The thin bits are in the case (5,5)
7 She won't change, so I played with her Dad (3-4)
8 Make a single out of a cut-up ten (9)
13 Two ants mixing it up with a mite and getting there (10)
14 Without controls you turn the last sub around, dude. (9)
16 The grumpy guys fought over, and with, Margret (3)
18 See the Aer Lingus flight, and something fishy, above you. (7)
19 It's all about them ... all about the "go" sites (7)
20 500 times 3 times 3 (7)
22 The last and first letters in Stanley's verses (7)
25 Stage a ball in London (5)
26 I hear you, but find it hard to believe you play this (4)
Here is each clue alongside its answer, with an explanation of the link between clue and answer. I hope it all makes sense! As always, I welcome feedback via comment and/or email. I’m particularly interested in hearing about clues that were too obvious or easy, and clues that were annoying or perhaps caused frustration. But, I’ll listen to all suggestions on how to make my puzzles more challenging and more fun!
Across
1 The IV chambers are in heat (5)
HEA(R)T
Are (R) in heat (HE-AT) = HEART: the four (IV) chambers.
4 For example, Cashel's "Blue Duck" goes well with veggies (6,3)
CHEESE DIP
For example, Cashel(s) Blue (CHEESE) duck (DIP) = CHEESE DIP: goes well with veggies
9 Much of this is about nothing (3)
ADO
As in Shakespeare’s Much ADO about Nothing.
10 He Ran It with Beer!!! A bygone headline? (6,5)
BERTIE AHERN
Anagram of “he ran it” with “beer”. Just kidding, Bertie …
11 See a senior about Mark (4)
S(C-A)R
See a (C A) senior about (S-R) = SCAR: mark.
12 Into yelling, after the French were so prejudiced (10)
INTOLERANT
Into (INTO) the French (LE) yelling after (RANT) = INTOLERANT: prejudiced.
14 Would Kapitaen Nemo move about with this? (1-4)
U-BOAT
Move (an anagram of) “about” = U-BOAT: a submarine, and subamrine Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, would be called “Kapitaen” if he was in charge of a German U-Boat.
15 Apollo cursed her, and loved her to see the fool and the artist (9)
C-ASS-AND-RA
To see (C) the fool (ASS) and (AND) the artist (RA) = CASSANDRA: loved, and then cursed, by Apollo, in Greek mythology.
17 One of the seven arranged a rent scam (9)
SACRAMENT
Arranged (an anagram of) “a rent scam” = SACRAMENT: of which there are seven.
21 Thanks to half the team it makes sense (5)
TAS-TE
Thanks (TAS) to half the te-am (TE) = TASTE: one of the five senses.
23 Bore Can Win!!! An upcoming headline? (5,5)
BRIAN COWEN
Anagram of “bore can win”. Just kidding, Brian …
24 This way on board is banned, I hear (4)
GANG
To get on board you can use the GANG-way, and a GANG is a band (“banned, I hear”).
27 Acknowledge the truth this way, with pride and with prejudice (11)
UNIVERSALLY
The celebrated opening sentence of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is “It is a truth UNIVERSALLY acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”
28 It's crazy here at no. 26, round after round (3)
Z-O-O
No. 26, in the alphabet (Z) round (O) after round (O) = ZOO: it’s crazy here, a zoo.
29 The English lady and the American soldier sit back with Ed ... a very PC picture (9)
DI-GI-TIS-ED
The English Lady (DI) and the American soldier (GI) sit back (TIS) with Ed (ED) = DIGITISED: as is a picture on a PC.
30 With Kay gone, Ken and Susan come next (5)
EN-SUE
K-en, with Kay gone, without “k” (EN) and Susan (SUE) = ENSUE: come next.
Down
1 Contests that Heather's not keeping her word (5)
HEATS
Heat-her-s not keep “her” word = HEATS: contests.
2 Where the waters meet, do something fruity (7)
AVOCA-DO
Where the waters meet, the Meeting of the Waters (AVOCA) do (DO) = AVOCADO: something fruity.
3 Back, but with a big player (4)
TUB-A
Back, but (TUB) with a (A) = TUBA: a big “player”.
4 There's something incessantly stylish about Ronald (7)
CH(RON)IC
There’s something stylish (CH-IC) about Ronald (RON) = CHRONIC: incessantly.
5 Mother left the mediators in charge (7)
EDITORS
Mother (MA) left the M-edi-A-tors = EDITORS: are in charge.
6 The thin bits are in the case (5,5)
SPARE PARTS
The thin (SPARE) bits (PARTS) = SPARE PARTS: needed just “in … case”.
7 She won't change, so I played with her Dad (3-4)
DIE-HARD
So I played (an anagram of) “I” with “her Dad” = DIE-HARD: she won’t change.
8 Make a single out of a cut-up ten (9)
PUNCTUATE
“A cut-up ten” makes, an anagram, PUNCTUATE: single out.
13 Two ants mixing it up with a mite and getting there (10)
ATTAINMENT
Mixing it up (an anagram of) “ant” & “ant” & “mite”, two ants with a mite = ATTAINMENT: getting there.
14 Without controls you turn the last sub around, dude. (9)
U-N-SUB-DUED
You (U) tur-n, the last (N) sub (SUB) around dude (DUED) = UNSUBDUED: without controls.
16 The grumpy guys fought over, and with, Margret (3)
ANN
The Grumpy Old Men (Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau) fought over ANN (with) Margret in the 1993 film.
18 See the Aer Lingus flight, and something fishy, above you. (7)
C-EI-LING
See (C) the Aer Lingus flight (EI) and something fishy (LING) = CEILING: above you.
19 It's all about them ... all about the "go" sites (7)
EGOISTS
All about (an anagram of) the “go sites” = EGOISTS: it’s all about them.
20 500 times 3 times 3 (7)
TREBLE-D
3 times (TREBLE) 500 (D) = TREBLED: times 3.
22 The last and first letters in Stanley's verses (7)
STAN(ZA)’S
The last and first letters (Z-A) in Stanley’s (STAN-’S) = STANZAS: verses.
25 Stage a ball in London (5)
GLOBE
A London stage is the GLOBE Theatre, and a GLOBE is a “ball”.
26 I hear you, but find it hard to believe you play this (4)
LYRE
I find it hard to believe a ‘liar’, which I hear as ‘LYRE’: you play this.
This is an image of the puzzle, for printing:
6 comments:
Hi Bill
No fanfare for me....am annoyed with myself for giving up minus 2.....GANG and GLOBE....I should have persevered...they were very 'doable' but I'd been looking at them for a while and the time had come that I could stop myself peeking no longer....also aware that Tommy's was waiting to be tackled and he usually gives us a good run.......
You had some great clues today....particularly liked your anagrams for BERTIE and BRIAN....names can be very revealing!
13d was excellent and INTO-LE-RANT brought a big smile...made even funnier by the fact that I was watching Eddie Izzard's Bilingual Europe sketch on YouTube last night....
Loved CHEESE DIP and AVOCADO....primarily because I love eating both Cashel Blue and avocados!
27a was a guess...didn't know the opening sentence but will try to store that piece of info in the rusty old brain....fat chance....
Off to have lunch....those clues have made me hungry...
Talk soon
Liz
Hi Liz,
As always, thx for doing the WEB puzzle, and a special thx for taking the time to comment. The feedback is so very useful.
I sit down with the WEB puzzle and try it myself as the last step in compiling (somehow that does help me gauge difficulty) and I am certain today's was on the tough side. You missed two, but as long as you tell me they were doable, I am encouraged to stick to my guns! :o)
Glad you liked Bertie and Brian. They were my "anchor" clues that I thought would be fun, so I built the rest of the puzzle around those answers.
I'm a big fan of Eddie Izzard myself, and listen to him on BBC Radio all the time. He also turns up on BBCAmerica TV once in a while. More fond of his stand-up than his dramatic roles though. The guy is brilliant. Does stand-up in French, I believe.
27A: UNIVERSALLY was one that I was concerned about, In one sense, you either know it or you don't, and given all the hype that Jane Austen has been getting in the past few years, I took the chance. On the other hand, I thought it guessable with the down clues, so I decided to include it. I'm a big Austen fan myself (don't tell the guys, they'll make fun of me ...).
Hope you enjoy the ATHOS attack ... it's Tommy's best yet, I think.
Thx again, Liz!
Slow going but did finish. Some missing knowledge like Avoca and the current Taoiseach (sorry Brian). Missed the P&P reference too, though did know about the Cheese. Also missed the film, but remembered that Margret goes with Ann.
Something to save for a future puzzle: you can use "one of the seven" to define DEADLY SIN which is the same length as SACRAMENT.
Hi Peter (fiend),
Good to see you stopping by again, and thanks for checking out the WEB puzzle. As always, I appreciate your expert critique :o)
Re AVOCA-DO
At school in Ireland most of us are exposed to Thomas Moore's poem "The Meeting of the Waters" so it's actually more than just a spot in Avoca for us. BTW, the village of Avoca is also the BBC's "Ballykissangel" if you're familiar with that TV series.
Re: BRIAN COWEN
You might not have known him, Peter, but you get full marks for being able to spell 'Taoiseach' correctly! :o)
Re: ANN
I figured that "Grumpy Old Men" was a little unfair, not being a truly classic film, but went with it as the "Margret" was real giveaway.
Thx for the DEADLY SIN hint ... I didn't spot that. The fact that you did, perhaps is telling? I go for SACRAMENT, and you go for DEADLY SIN? Where's you're head at, Peter??!! :o)
Thx again for the input, and persevering with the "local" clues.
As a churchwarden at a C of E church currently trying to recruit a new vicar, I should say that my head's just at "lists of seven" - just in case any candidates are doing absurdly detailed research. Add "Hills of Rome" for example.
Taoiseach is just about solid in my head from a few Times xwd appearances. They love words whose spellings seem unusual, for whatever reason.
Peter,
I imagine that churchwarden must be a busy job, without a vicar in the parish. Good luck with your search.
And yes, Romes's seven hills ... a good one for the toolbox. Thanks!
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