Irish Times Crossword (Crosaire)

bothyhead

hivizman wrote: »

I tend to use Roget's Thesaurus, published by Penguin

I bought a second-hand copy of that a few years ago; the print was really faded, and the paper had such a musty smell, that I took a dislike to it and eventually threw it out. I also found the index/classification system a bit of a pain. I suppose I should have another look at it.

hivizman wrote:

I also have an old (1991) edition of Chambers Thesaurus, which I don't particularly like

That's interesting. You've probably gathered from one of my previous posts that I am a Chambers fan; however, on researching thesauri I didn't come across any positive references to Chambers. You've just convinced me to cross this one off my list!

Many thanks

Spike440

TBH I just use thesaurus.com if I need to check something.

Spike440

1a -

CROSSWORD

9a -

CAVEAT

10a -

GET ACROSS

11a -

BOTTON

12a -

DELIVERED

13a -

METTLE

17a -

ASS

19a -

REAPING

20a -

THEATRE

21a -

ANY

23a -

SILVER

27a -

IGNORANCE

28a -

BASINS

29a -

STAGNATED

30a -

EMETIC

31a -

DESERTING

2d -

REELED

3d -

STATIC

4d -

WARNED

5d -

ROSTERS

6d -

BAROMETER

7d -

DESTITUTE

8d -

STAMPEDES

14d -

CROSSBRED

15d -

BALLASTED

16d -

LIVE ON AIR

17d -

AGA

18d -

STY

22d -

NIGHTIE

25d -

SAVANT

26d -

SCREEN

I'm just missing 24d. Any takers?

hivizman

Spike440 wrote: »

8d -

STAMPEDES

I think actually

STAMPEDED

- "ran away with it" implies past tense, and "editors" implies

ED-ED

. Perhaps you got this but mistyped the answer, though?

Spike440 wrote: »

I'm just missing 24d. Any takers?

I think

TONGUE

.

A lot of the clues today were reasonably sound, but I hated 19A and 27A - I really think that if the clue depends on a pun, there should be some indication of this.

Spike440

It was a typo.

What's your logic for 24d?

hivizman

"The pack" refers to a pack of hounds, and when a pack of hounds is hunting and starts to yelp and bark when the dogs pick up a scent, they are said to "give

tongue

". The rest of the clue "by the sound of it" is hinting that the answer relates to the sound given by the pack.

Chambers Dictionary gives a definition under the word

tongue

for the expression "give

tongue

": "give voice as hounds on a scent do".

hivizman

Early lunch today, so here are the answers and my comments:

1A

DEARTH - cryptic indication for only part of clue

4A

REEF KNOT - punning definition, though quite an amusing clue

9A

RATHER

10A

STRAITEN - Str(eet) + a + 1 + ten

12A

ALTER - ref. to alter ego

13A

DEPLETION - can't really criticise: two definitions

16A

ENDUE - cryptic indication for only part of clue

17A

APATHY - technically sound

22A

STASIS - not sure that ST really abbreviates saintly

24A

PETAL - t in peal, but unconvincing definition

27A

ERA - definition OK but not sure about rest of clue

28A

AGITATION - sound but weak

31A

TALKS - presumably K in anag of last, but anagram not well indicated

32A

ELECTRIC - elect + RIC: a good clue

33A

STATUE - U in state: sound but not very exciting

34A

TOLERATE - to + la + rate: sound

35A

PSYCHE - lover of Cupid: sound

1D

DARK AGES - sound

2D

ALTITUDE - anag of tail + anag of duet

3D

THE ORIENT - E = east: some would think this is unsound (definition is not given directly), but I'd tolerate it

5D

EAT UP - clear enough clue

6D

FLAME - L in fame: not sure that well-known (an adjective) can indicate fame (a noun)

7D

NITRIC - nit + ric: cryptic elements are there but clue is clumsy

8D

TENANT - this can be a verb, so "rent" is OK as a definition

11D

IDEALS - definition implies a singular answer

14D

LIT - lit(any)

18D

ASSENT - as sent

19D

HEPATITIS - he + Pat + it is: liver disease

20D

ATHLETIC - punning definition

21D

GLASS EYE - sound and not at all bad as a clue

23D

ACT - two definitions

25D

TALENT - ta + lent

26D

PINEAL - pine + a + L (= 50)

29D

AFTER - opposite of fore

30D

IDIOT - "I had" = ID + 10 + T - I really dislike making "tent" into 10T like this, though can tolerate "110" as 1TEN in 10A, because some people say the number 110 as "one ten"

Spike440

All you've left me is 15a

ICE

.

hivizman

Should have included that one! But not a very strong clue, I thought.

Laurent

I am not sure if anybody has done the maths, but going by the Crosaire number displayed, the X- word has been going for 43.72 years! Is this a record and should we make some sort of gesture to the master?

hivizman

Compared to UK papers, Crosaire is a youngster. Today's Times crossword is number 24,021, The Guardian is up to 24,496, and The Daily Telegraph leads the field with number 25,724. They all started daily crosswords around the same time in the 1920s.

The Saturday edition of The Times carries the Listener Crossword, which previously appeared in the weekly magazine The Listener, and when this closed moved over to The Times. The puzzle on Saturday 19 September 2008 will be number 4,000, and a special jumbo crossword is promised. The Listener Crossword is the most challenging cryptic crossword regularly published, and I'm pleased if I can make a start and delighted if I finish it.

bothyhead

hivizman wrote: »

Compared to UK papers, Crosaire is a youngster. Today's Times crossword is number 24,021, The Guardian is up to 24,496, and The Daily Telegraph leads the field with number 25,724. They all started daily crosswords around the same time in the 1920s.

Ah, yes, ... but the British papers have a team of setters and a editor for each crossword (I'm not sure if this is the case with The Listner.) Crosaire, on the other hand, does it all by himself. So, on an individual compile rate, I would imagine that Crosaire is the grand-daddy of them all!

I've made a few attempts recently at the Sunday Times crossword. The best I've done is about 75%. I've also had a look at Mephisto, and my best there is 2 clues

bothyhead

hivizman, seeing that you do The Times and Listner crosswords, you may be interested in these blogs:

http://community.livejournal.com/times_xwd_times/

http://community.livejournal.com/listener_xwd/

FruitLover

hivizman wrote: »

27A

ERA - definition OK but not sure about rest of clue

era + sure = removal

hivizman

bothyhead wrote: »

Ah, yes, ... but the British papers have a team of setters and a editor for each crossword (I'm not sure if this is the case with The Listner.) Crosaire, on the other hand, does it all by himself. So, on an individual compile rate, I would imagine that Crosaire is the grand-daddy of them all!

Would you believe it? There's a Wikipedia article about Crosaire and its setter Derek Crozier (get the pun? ). He's actually been setting the puzzle for over 60 years, so he outdoes Roger Squires, considered by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific crossword setter, by a couple of decades. Even Araucaria of The Guardian has been at it only since 1958.

There's a photo of Derek Crozier here.

bothyhead wrote: »

I've made a few attempts recently at the Sunday Times crossword. The best I've done is about 75%. I've also had a look at Mephisto, and my best there is 2 clues

Familiarity with a setter's style is the key. On Sundays, I normally go for The Observer and the Azed crossword, which I try to complete without using the dictionary. On average I can solve about half the clues before getting out the reference books. But I've been doing it nearly every week for 15 years (sad or what? :rolleyes:).

I guess that I should just accept Crosaire's idiosyncratic cluing style as something that's interesting in its own right, rather than whinging about it.

Spike440

1a -

CONSTRAINS

6a -

SAKI

10a -

SANTA

11a -

REDBREAST

12a -

THE NOVEL

13a -

CANNA

15a -

MALLARD

17a -

REUNION

19a -

INSISTS

21a -

THE TOWN

22a -

THORN

24a -

MONARCHY

27a -

AITCHBONE

28a -

VERSE

29a -

NORM

30a -

MESSENGER

1d -

CAST

2d -

NINE HOLES

3d -

TRAIN

4d -

ARRIVED

5d -

NODULAR

7d -

AGAIN

8d -

IN TRAINING

9d -

BROCHURE

14d -

A MAIL TRAIN

16d -

ABSINTH

18d -

IRON HORSE

20d -

SOMEONE

21d -

TENDERS

23d -

OTTER

25d -

RAVEN

26d -

MESS

I liked the theme today (

TRAIN

).

At the risk of sounding like hivizman I have to complain about 6a. Firstly Monro is a misspelling, as it should be Munro. And in order for the "drink in Japan" part of the clue to make sense there should be a homonym indicator, because that particular drink is spelled

SAKE

.

EDIT: Wikipedia notes under

Saki

that it is:

A rarer spelling of sake, a Japanese rice-based spirit

, but I maintain my objection.

Spike440

Is it just me or have the days of this being a group effort passed us by?

hivizman

Probably getting used to the Crosaire style, so you're able to solve more clues first time round without assistance?

I hadn't noticed the misspelling of "Munro" as "Monro" in 6a. I agree that the normal spelling of the Japanese drink ends in an "e", but Chambers doesn't flag up the spelling ending in "i" as rare or unusual, so I'm happy to let this one through.

Nice clue to 2d. Struggled with 14d until I got the pun. Otherwise, no really dreadful clues.

sack lunch

another quick question... what does the word "state" signify?

edit: just read back thru some of the posts here. Thanks for your welcome

Checked out the Wikipedia article... so state/states = "us" or "usa"?

Spike440

Usually a US State (e.g. Oregon) or a country.

Yesterday it was part of an anagram (statue).

bothyhead

Spike440 wrote: »

Is it just me or have the days of this being a group effort passed us by?

You're too good at it! I usually only get to look at it in the evenings after work, where as you have it completed before lunch.

I do hope that you keep up the good work, as your answers have opened up many an elusive corner for me when I'm bashing my head at 10 p.m.

With sincere thanks

Spike440

lol

I fear that when I change jobs in three weeks I won't get the chance to look at it before 5pm!

Laurent

Firstly every success with the new appointment.Your fast solutions will be missed,but perhaps it will make us try a little harder. I try to resist checking this site, as it is only a challenge when the result deadline has to be waited for publication. Someone once gave me an X-word book, and the answers were at the back. After a while I gave it up as I was finding it too easy to turn to the back. What I do enjoy is the expliication of some of the clues. The man is a genius with a mind that is very difficult to penetrate. Long may he continue.

bothyhead

No wonder you've had so much time on your hands!

Best of luck with the new job.

hivizman

Spike440 wrote: »

lol

I fear that when I change jobs in three weeks I won't get the chance to look at it before 5pm!

I'll add my best wishes to those already posted. My own job gets busy again from next week, so I'll also probably not be able to look at the puzzle until the evening.

bothyhead

I'm going through today's now, and I have to say it's quite an entertaining puzzle. There are some nice clues.

hivizman

Finding it difficult today. Answers so far:

1A

COME CLEAN

10A

APPLE PIE

12A

PARSON

15A

TREAT

18A

AVAILED

24A

ERASES

26A

ALTER

30A

NEXT

31A

IMAGES

32A

OTTERS

34A

NONAGE

2D

ORPHAN - don't think "dama" is a real word, which spoils clue

3D

ENLIST

4D

LUPINE

5D

ACETATE

13D

ORAL

17D

CAME ROUND

19D

AWAITING

20D

EASES

22D

ITEM

23D

CATHODE

25D

ENRAGE

27D

TITTLE

Now for the elusive right half of the puzzle!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Dama = a genus of deer including the Eurasian fallow deer.

The discussion is stiffled because so many don't get to look at it until evening and most answers have been posted by then.

Laurent

I'm stuck on 11 A and 11D.
9 A

became

15 A

threat

21 A

written

26 A

alter

31 A

images

33 A

outdoors

25A

debenture

Down
6

rehash

7

tastiest

8

cementing

23

cathode

27

tittle

?
28

ragout

29

terror

hivizman

I think that 11A is

BATTLE - "sound piece" implies "peace", and "not a peace" implies "battle"

.

That would make 11D

BITER - I'm not sure about this, but I think that the allusion is to the expression "the biter bit", which Chambers defines as "the wrongdoer paid back" - this could be alluded to by "just ice" = "justice"

.