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It's the middle of the month of January, so here's a medium difficulty puzzle, rated 3/5. I hope it's no walkover!
And a reminder ... the Sunday slot is still open for anyone who wants to post his or her own, original crossword. Just contact me and I will help you with the mechanics of compiling and posting.
Across
1 Roget's answer (7,6)
10 An ion, a feeler (7)
11 It's a must, as going back has appeal, I hear (7)
12 The noble and wise leave yearly (4)
13 My house has a front door and a roof ... no lie, honestly! (4,6)
15 The Jurassic reference book? (9)
17 A good place to get a birth cert. from a hardshaw (5)
19 Ready to be drawn where there's often an H or C (2,3)
20 Feather 5, feather 4, feather 3 ... (9)
22 As you can see, I am not able to take the ice (10)
24 Soundly shake at one end of the space station (4)
26 To the French couples, they're young foreigners (2,5)
27 There's not much I, Ron, Mia and Annie can hear (7)
28 Don's porch seat looked odd in America (6,3,4)
Down
2 Head off between CE and PT (9)
3 It's fate Desmond leads this minute (4)
4 New name for our charm (7)
5 A B.Sc.'s ulcer (7)
6 They slow down and one rants about the time they expect to arrive at Ardee (10)
7 Sat around the queue with you, as you refuse to leave (5)
8 Understand that it's arranged via the Downpatrick (4,2,4,3)
9 Wild woodlands near, well, not too far from Ballsbridge (9,4)
14 See a priest go to school in Cork in nothing, but something hot and frothy! (10)
16 Without the odd buffoon, we get "spacey" (3)
18 In general the room's grand, and next to the best of them (9)
20 Frame Charles, Sister? (7)
21 Loose one with the French, Ashley (7)
23 They say it's the most chosen subject (5)
25 "War and Peace" starts with a twist (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 Roget's answer (7,6)
FIFTEEN ACROSS
Roget's wrote a famous THESAURUS which is the FIFTEEN ACROSS answer.
10 An ion, a feeler (7)
AN-TEN-N-A
An (AN) io-n (TEN-N) a (A) = ANTENNA: feeler.
11 It's a must, as going back has appeal, I hear (7)
SATSUMA
It's "a must as" going back = SATSUMA: has a peel ("appeal" I hear).
12 The noble and wise leave yearly (4)
EARL
Wise (YY) leave y-EARL-y = EARL: the noble.
13 My house has a front door and a roof ... no lie, honestly! (4,6)
HOME TRUTHS
My house (HOME) has a front door and a roof (TRUTHS) = HOME TRUTHS: no lie, honestly!
15 The Jurassic reference book? (9)
THE-SAURUS
The (THE) Jurassic? (-SAURUS) = THESAURUS: reference book.
17 A good place to get a birth cert. from a hardshaw (5)
A-G-GRO
A (A) good (G) place to get a berth cert., the General Registrar's Office (GRO) = AGGRO: from a hardshaw.
19 Ready to be drawn where there's often an H or C (2,3)
ON TAP
Where there's often an H (for Hot) or C (for Cold) = ON TAP: ready to be drawn.
20 Feather 5, feather 4, feather 3 ... (9)
COUNT-DOWN
5, 4, 3 ... (COUNT) feathers (DOWN) = COUNTDOWN: 5, 4, 3 ...
22 As you can see, I am not able to take the ice (10)
NOT(ICE)ABLE
I am not able (NOT-ABLE) to take the ice (ICE) = NOTICEABLE: as you can see.
24 Soundly shake at one end of the space station (4)
E-MIR
At one end of th-e (E) space station (MIR) = EMIR: sheikh (soundly "shake").
26 To the French couples, they're young foreigners (2,5)
AU PAIRS
To the French (AU) couples (PAIRS) = AU PAIRS: they're young foreigners.
27 There's not much I, Ron, Mia and Annie can hear (7)
ANAEMIA
Mia and Annie (ANNIE MIA) can hear (as) = ANAEMIA: there's not much i-ron.
28 Don's porch seat looked odd in America (6,3,4)
ACROSS THE POND
"Don's porch seat" looked odd = ACROSS THE POND: in America.
Down
2 Head off between CE and PT (9)
INTER-CE-PT
Between (INTER-) CE and PT (CE-PT) = INTERCEPT: head off.
3 It's fate Desmond leads this minute (4)
TINY
Desmond leads (DES) this minute (TINY) = DESTINY: it's fate.
4 New name for our charm (7)
ENAM-OUR
New "name" (ENAM) for our (OUR) = ENAMOUR: charm.
5 A B.Sc.'s ulcer (7)
A-B-SC-ESS
A (A) B. Sc. (BSC) 's (ESS) = ABSCESS: ulcer.
6 They slow down and one rants about the time they expect to arrive at Ardee (10)
R(ETA-RD)ANTS
And one rants (R-ANTS) about the time they expect to arrive at Ardee (ETA RD) = RETARDANTS: they slow down.
7 Sat around the queue with you, as you refuse to leave (5)
S(Q-U)AT
Sat around (S-AT) the queue with you (Q-U) = SQUAT: as you refuse to leave.
8 Understand that it's arranged via the Downpatrick (4,2,4,3)
HAVE IT DOWN PAT
It's arranged "via the" (HAVE IT) Downpatrick (DOWN PAT) = HAVE IT DOWN PAT: understand.
9 Wild woodlands near, well, not too far from Ballsbridge (9,4)
LANSDOWNE ROAD
Wild "woodlands near" = LANSDOWNE ROAD: not too far from Ballsbridge.
14 See a priest go to school in Cork in nothing, but something hot and frothy! (10)
C-A-PP-UCC-IN-O
See a (CA) priest (PP) go to school in cork (UCC) in nothing (IN-O) = CAPPUCCINO: but something hot and frothy.
16 Without the odd buffoon, we get "spacey" (3)
UFO
Without the odd (letters in) b-U-f-F-o-O-n we get UFO: "spacey".
18 In general the room's grand, and next to the best of them (9)
G(ROOM'S-M)EN
In general (G-EN) the room's grand (ROOM'S-M) = GROOMSMEN: and next to the best (man) of them.
20 Frame Charles, Sister? (7)
CHAS-SIS
Charles (CHAS) sister (SIS) = CHASSIS: frame.
21 Loose one with the French, Ashley (7)
UN-LE-ASH
"One" with "the" french (UN LE) Ashley (ASH) = UNLEASH: loose.
23 They say it's the most chosen subject (5)
TOPIC
It's the most chosen (TOP PICK) they say, and I hear as = TOPIC: subject.
25 "War and Peace" starts with a twist (4)
WAR-P
War (WAR) and p-eace starts with (P) = WARP: a twist.
Reveal-An-Answer
Need just one answer to get things moving? Here is the solution to today's puzzle, in a hidden format. To reveal any particular answer, highlight the whole line under the relevant clue.
Across
1 Roget's answer (7,6)
FIFTEEN ACROSS
10 An ion, a feeler (7)
AN-TEN-N-A
11 It's a must, as going back has appeal, I hear (7)
SATSUMA
12 The noble and wise leave yearly (4)
EARL
13 My house has a front door and a roof ... no lie, honestly! (4,6)
HOME TRUTHS
15 The Jurassic reference book? (9)
THE-SAURUS
17 A good place to get a birth cert. from a hardshaw (5)
A-G-GRO
19 Ready to be drawn where there's often an H or C (2,3)
ON TAP
20 Feather 5, feather 4, feather 3 ... (9)
COUNT-DOWN
22 As you can see, I am not able to take the ice (10)
NOT(ICE)ABLE
24 Soundly shake at one end of the space station (4)
E-MIR
26 To the French couples, they're young foreigners (2,5)
AU PAIRS
27 There's not much I, Ron, Mia and Annie can hear (7)
ANAEMIA
28 Don's porch seat looked odd in America (6,3,4)
ACROSS THE POND
Down
2 Head off between CE and PT (9)
INTER-CE-PT
3 It's fate Desmond leads this minute (4)
TINY
4 New name for our charm (7)
ENAM-OUR
5 A B.Sc.'s ulcer (7)
A-B-SC-ESS
6 They slow down and one rants about the time they expect to arrive at Ardee (10)
R(ETA-RD)ANTS
7 Sat around the queue with you, as you refuse to leave (5)
S(Q-U)AT
8 Understand that it's arranged via the Downpatrick (4,2,4,3)
HAVE IT DOWN PAT
9 Wild woodlands near, well, not too far from Ballsbridge (9,4)
LANSDOWNE ROAD
14 See a priest go to school in Cork in nothing, but something hot and frothy! (10)
C-A-PP-UCC-IN-O
16 Without the odd buffoon, we get "spacy" (3)
UFO
18 In general the room's grand, and next to the best of them (9)
G(ROOM'S-M)EN
20 Frame Charles, Sister? (7)
CHAS-SIS
21 Loose one with the French, Ashley (7)
UN-LE-ASH
23 They say it's the most chosen subject (5)
TOPIC
25 "War and Peace" starts with a twist (4)
WAR-P
2 comments:
Hi Bill
Thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle...you had a myriad of brilliant clues today!
At first glance I thought I'd no hope of getting even a whiff of a tantara...found it difficult enough to make headway...but somewhere between the one-third and half-way mark, I tuned into your wacky ways...and zoomed off...only slowing down for the last few!
The truly wicked ones...SATSUMA, THESAURUS, AGGRO, ON TAP, COUNTDOWN, AU PAIRS, ANAEMIA, TINY, SQUAT...and the delicious CAPPUCCINO! Some days I wonder about the sanity of youse crossword setters!!
Today's puzzle brought smile after smile...really enjoyable Bill and very tongue-in-cheek betimes!
You really had me running round in circles looking for an 'answer' to 1a...kept asking myself "what would you call an 'answer' from Roget's THESAURUS?'....synonym locator...bla bla bla!! Totally complicating the issue...and almost ashamed to admit that it was my last one in, despite having THESAURUS for 15a in place from early on in my puzzling experience!
Probably left out mentioning some other favourites...but it's very late here....tiredness is upon me...definitely no MCCing...will leave today's offering from M. Crosaire til I've had a night's sleep!
Many thanks Bill for a really great puzzle...3/5 rating was about right...as I said earlier, a little difficult to get my teeth into initially but once I picked up speed...there was no stopping me! I think that adds to the satisfaction...much nicer than zooming off at first...and then struggling to finish...or even NOT FINISH as is often the case!
Well done Bill...this one gets my 'Best WEB Puzzle to Date' Award!
Liz
Hi Liz,
"Best WEB puzzle to date" ... high praise indeed! Thank you so much for saying that. Your encouraging words keep me going!
I think I am getting the hang of this variable difficulty rating, so I was very pleased to hear that you agreed with the 3/5 label. I pinched the idea of the varying degree of difficulty from the NYTimes where the concept is very popular.
I am not sure if you spotted it, but there was another clue to the FIFTEEN ACROSS answer. The top and bottom across answers had the word ACROSS included, and the left and right external down answers included the word DOWN. I was quite proud of that FIFTEEN ACROSS clue, by the way! :)
And you picked up my other favorites too, especially COUNTDOWN and ANAEMIA.
As always ... thanks for the great feedback, Liz!
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