Irish Times Crossword (Crosaire)

SilverHeron · 09-09-2008 4:25pm

2D

OXYGEN

15D

STAIRWAYS

30A

LAYMAN LAYMEN

23A

OSIRIS??EXISTS

14D

MAKE A HOLE

Spike440 · 09-09-2008 4:29pm

Yep I have it finished now. It was very difficult today and the misprints were particularly annoying.

SilverHeron · 09-09-2008 4:34pm

Spike440 wrote: »

Yep I have it finished now. It was very difficult today and the misprints were particularly annoying.

What's 6D & 16D?

Spike440 · 09-09-2008 4:37pm

6d -

WET SEASON

16d -

NEWTONIAN

Spike440 · 10-09-2008 10:27am

1a -

IN VAIN

9a -

VERITY

10a -

FOOTSTEP

12a -

NADIR

13a -

MISDEMEAN

15a -

EVE

16a -

CLASS

17a -

RUSTED

22a -

ASTERN

24a -

DRIVE

27a -

ALE

28a -

CONTINENT

31a -

REBEL

32a -

ELEVATED

33a -

CITRIC

34a -

TEN CENTS

35a -

TEMPTS

1d -

IN VENICE

2d -

VERY DEAR

3d -

INTERESTS

5d -

OBOES

7d -

ENTREE

11d -

EMERGE

14d -

DOT

18d -

SENATE

19d -

ELDER WINE

20d -

LIMBER UP

21d -

REFLECTS

23d -

TON

25d -

ACCENT

26d -

INTERN

29d -

IRATE

30d -

ELECT

SilverHeron · 10-09-2008 11:17am

here's my tuppence worth 34A

TEN CENTS

10A

FOOTSTEP

6D

TITHE???

8D

SUPINE????

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 11:22am

I managed to get a look at this a bit earlier than usual, and I thought some of the clues were not well written. For instance:

3d has no definition

33a has no homophone indicator

p.s. Wasn't yesterday's Dysentery a lovely clue? (even if the answer is misspelled in today's paper)

p.p.s. What is the story with all the mistakes / misprints in the Crosaire recently? - Obviously there is no crossword editor.

SilverHeron · 10-09-2008 11:28am

bothyhead wrote: »

I managed to get a look at this a bit earlier than usual, and I thought some of the clues were not well written. For instance:

3d has no definition

33a has no homophone indicator

p.s. Wasn't yesterday's Dysentery a lovely clue? (even if the answer is misspelled in today's paper)

p.p.s. What is the story with all the mistakes / misprints in the Crosaire recently? - Obviously there is no crossword editor.

Any thoughts on 4A, 8D

(SUPINE???)

or 26D?

Spike440 · 10-09-2008 11:31am

I think 4a must be

BOOTLESS

You're right about 8d and probably about 6d too.

I agree with the standard being a little lax recently.

I can't imagine that there is any editing. He's been doing this for almost 40 years now!

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 11:33am

Sorry, I've only a dozen or so clues done, and you've covered them already.

SilverHeron · 10-09-2008 11:34am

26D

INTERN

one by one - in turn..

Flimsy but it might just be the solution? Did any of ye have the same?

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 11:45am

Spike440 wrote: »

I can't imagine that there is any editing. He's been doing this for almost 40 years now!

I've just googled Derek Crozier ...

The first Crosaire appeared in the Irish Times in 1943, 65 years ago.

What's even more astounding: he was born in 1917, which makes him 91. It's an amazing feat that he's still compiling them - and may he have many more years ahead of him!

(I still think they should be proof-read though)

Spike440 · 10-09-2008 12:23pm

SilverHeron wrote: »

26D
INTERN

one by one - in turn..
Flimsy but it might just be the solution? Did any of ye have the same?

That's what I had above. I don't think it's flimsy. [/SPOILER]sounds like one by one = in turn and a tern is a bird[/SPOILER]

I'm pretty sure I'm right about 4a but I can't relate it to the clue. Any thoughts?

sack lunch · 10-09-2008 2:07pm

I've been trying to do the Crosaire recently, with varying degrees of success. I've figured out some of the words that pop up regularly but there's others that I still have no idea about. Can someone explain what these should be telling me:

"ruddy"
"bloody"
"church"
"South/North" ... S/N?

Spike440 · 10-09-2008 2:42pm

"ruddy" - red

"bloody" - usually relating to blood (vein/vain, artery, heart, gore)

"church" - usually relating to religion (e.g. god, priest, layman) or the architecture of a church (e.g. aisle, apse, steeple etc.)

"South/North" - the letters N and S (e.g. They scratch the illness between the poles = N + AIL + S = NAILS) The same goes for East and West (E and W).

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 2:56pm

sack lunch wrote: »

I've been trying to do the Crosaire recently, with varying degrees of success. I've figured out some of the words that pop up regularly but there's others that I still have no idea about. Can someone explain what these should be telling me:

"ruddy"
"bloody"
"church"
"South/North" ... S/N?

First of all, welcome aboard. Feel free to ask about any clue you're having trouble with; we will do our best to explain it to you. The only request we usually make is that any of "today's" answers are surrounded in with SPOILER tags.

Ruddy = red
Bloody = blood, guts, gore, vein
Compass Points ... yes you're correct N,S,E,W
Church = Crosaire usually means someone who works in in a church (priest, canon, nun) or something that is part of a church (isle, nave, apse, pew)
I have also seen CH, and CE (Church of England) used.

Someone has posted a longer list of these on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosaire

Spike440 · 10-09-2008 3:00pm

bothyhead wrote: »

First of all, welcome aboard.

+1

I really should have said that too.

bothyhead wrote: »

Someone has posted a longer list of these on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosaire

I knew I'd seen a list somewhere. There was also a guide published in the paper years ago that I have knocking around on my harddrive somewhere. I'll post it up if I can find it. We should update that from time to time.

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 3:18pm

Yeah, I sometimes do. I have a list of common crossword abbreviations which I could easily append it to the list - thought not all of them would be used by Crosaire. I'll add it, and we can prune out what's not relevant.

SilverHeron · 10-09-2008 3:19pm

Helpful clue codex

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thetubridyshow/crosaire.pdf

Laurent · 10-09-2008 3:33pm

My feeling is that there are a number of Crosaire's. The standard and the mind set varies from day to day and certain days seem to fit together. I had the same problem with the Daily Telegraph where having thought I was in the mind of the setter the next day I was completly lost. For me the most famous cock up was when the Sunday Tribune gave the answers to the x-word as the solution for the previous week and had the gall to award the prize the following week. Do they still run the annual Crosaire competition ?

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 3:34pm

I've just appended a list of abbreviations to the Wikipedia Crosaire entry. It needs a bit of editing.

bothyhead · 10-09-2008 3:37pm

Laurent wrote: »

My feeling is that there are a number of Crosaire's.

Nope, there's only the one: Derek Crozier.

If you google his name you'll come across a small biography.

Spike440 · 10-09-2008 3:54pm

bothyhead wrote: »

Nope, there's only the one: Derek Crozier.

One and only. I think he varies the difficulty. Tuesday definitely seems to be the most difficult and I would venture that Friday and Saturday are the easiest.

SilverHeron wrote: »

Helpful clue codex

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/thetubridyshow/crosaire.pdf

That's what I was talking about.

bothyhead · 11-09-2008 9:33am

I'm stuck understanding two of Tuesday's clues; can anyone help?

***

He's always with it = "escort"

Apart from an escort usually being a male. I'm totally lost.

***

Big and tubby with a half hundred = "Abuttal"

a half hundred = al, but I'm blank with the rest. Chambers defines abuttal as an end projection or join, but that definition is not in the clue (that I can see.)

Spike440 · 11-09-2008 10:30am

I don't think that you're missing anything.

"Escort" is practically a simplex clue.

"Abuttal" doesn't seem to have a definition. The clue gives the letters TUB & AL. Maybe the words abuttal conjures images of something big for Crozier.

On this note, yesterday's 4a was actually FOOTLESS, which I simply cannot relate to the clue. Any thoughts?

bothyhead · 11-09-2008 10:36am

Spike440 wrote: »

... yesterday's 4a was actually FOOTLESS, which I simply cannot relate to the clue. Any thoughts?

What's the clue again?

Spike440 · 11-09-2008 10:46am

bothyhead wrote: »

What's the clue again?

4a - No 12 in this of one one who is well over 8 (8)

EDIT: Wait I think I have it - 12 inches in a foot?

bothyhead · 11-09-2008 10:57am

Yep, 12 inches = a foot

Could "well over" be a reference to being drunk = legless = footless?

Also, "well over 8" could imply 9, 10, or 11, but not 12

.. so just less than a foot

Spike440 · 11-09-2008 12:18pm

1a -

OFF MY HANDS

6a -

TALC

10a -

FORGE

11a -

IN UNIFORM

12a -

STUDYING

13a -

FREED

15a -

LEAFAGE

17a -

DURANCE

19a -

CREATES

21a -

SADIRON

22a -

SIREN

24a -

SCRATCHY

27a -

EXTREMIST

28a -

ABODE

?
29a -

POST

1d -

OAFS

2d -

FIRST MATE

3d -

YIELD

Originally thought this was

WHEAT

which also fits the clue.
4d -

ASININE

5d -

DRUGGED

7d -

ADORE

8d -

COMEDIENNE

9d -

PILFERED

??
14d -

BLACK SHEEP

love this one!
16d -

ATTENDED

18d -

NORTH POLE

20d -

SISTINE

23d -

RATES

25d -

TRAIT

?
26d -

LESS

Laurent · 11-09-2008 1:31pm

Whilst I would never conisider that I was in the same league as Spike, I began to think today that I was near getting there, and then thought that I had downloaded the wrong x-word . Half way through (after not very many minutes) I thought " Oh s**t Ive downloaded the wrong x-word, this is Simplex. This one did not even stretch the brains. I am very sure that this was not set by Crosaire. To those who doubt, are all Thursdays this easy?
I hope that I am not giving offence, but I have just returned to Crosaire recently after a long gap (possibly 15 years) and my greatest joy was when the IT went "free" on line and I was able to renew the relationship. I should sign this "doubting thomas"

Irish Times Crossword (Crosaire)

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