You can find a link to the crossword
here
and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as
you would do on
TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.
Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help, click the label below.
Hints...
Some hints and tips:
- Some of the colours aren't to be found in a normal rainbow... unless you are colour blind
- In 1A "about" is not an inclusion indicator
- It helps to know your nursery rhymes for 23A
- In 3D the pen is not one you write with.
And click on this label to get the solution.
Solution and explanation of the answers...
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other
indicators.
Across
1 Roam about fringes of Oman desert (6)
MAROON – (roam)* [about] [fringes of] OmaN. The “about” potentially confuses as it could be an inclusion indicator rather than an anagram indicator as here.
5 Catch a coin that isn't worth much (6)
COPPER – COP (catch, as in “he was copped for speeding”), PER (a, as in “ 3 per day”/”3 a day”). Yes I know. “a” for “per” is a sneaky setter’s trick, but one worth remembering. I still miss it sometimes.
8 Brown designed inn on Cam (8)
CINNAMON – [designed] (inn on Cam)*.
9 Googled regularly for "type of fish for aquarium"? (4)
GOLD – GoOgLeD [regularly] with the definition being mildly cryptic.
10 Somewhat indelicate source of exotic food (4)
DELI – Hidden in [somewhat] inDELIcate.
11 Students could become money-makers by going topless (8)
LEARNERS – Take the top off the answer and get EARNERS (money-makers).
13 Spicy root that grows primarily in centre of Nigeria (6)
GINGER – G{rows} [primarily] IN [centre of] NiGERia
16 Colour of chopped livers (6)
SILVER – [Chopped] (livers)*.
18 Make a mess of southern dish (8)
SPLATTER – S (southern) PLATTER (dish).
21 Lady Jane's horse? (4)
GREY – Double definition, the first referring to the Nine Days’ Queen.
23 Choice fruit retrieved in corner by good boy (or so he says) (4)
PLUM – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint based on the nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner.
24 Fuel that's cleaner, firm and pale in the middle (8)
CHARCOAL – CHAR (cleaner) CO (company; firm) pALe [in the middle].
25 Old variety of fruit (6)
ORANGE – O (old) RANGE (variety, as in range of goods).
26 Like a coward, give loud shout of pain (6)
YELLOW – YELL OW (give a loud shout of pain).
Down
2 Whisper strange ideas (5)
ASIDE – (ideas)* [strange]. A stage whisper.
3 Noises from pen when starting oblique writing (7)
OINKING – [Starting] O{blique}, INKING (writing in ink). The noises coming from a pig pen, of course.
4 Being more quick-thinking, run after doctor trapped in African river (7)
NIMBLER – MB (doctor) [trapped in] NILE (African river), R (run).
5 Against song ending with a dance (5)
CONGA – CON (against) {son}G [ending] A.
6 Perhaps all great Asian nations started heathen? (5)
PAGAN – An acrostic - Perhaps All Great Asian Nations [started].
7 Blow up General Assembly (7)
ENLARGE – (general)* [assembly].
12 French king's interest (3)
ROI – Double definition, the second being the common abbreviation for Return On Investment (interest).
14 He might spike one politician's beer and run (7)
IMPALER – I (one) MP ALE (politician’s beer) R (run).
15 Tuck into some meatballs (3)
EAT – Hidden in, [some] mEATballs.
16 Such bacon is variable in quality (7)
STREAKY – Double definition.
17 Natural logarithm I'll calculate truncating by two thirds (7)
LOGICAL – LOGarithm I’ll CALculate, with each word losing the last 2/3 of its letters [truncating by two thirds].
19 A head of department with little time for business management (5)
ADMIN – A [head of] D{epartment} MIN (little time).
20 Long time before getting facial hair (5)
TACHE – T (time) ACHE (long).
22 Time to muse (5)
ERATO – ERA (time) TO. One of the nine muses, Erato is the muse of lyric poetry.
1 Roam about fringes of Oman desert (6)
MAROON – (roam)* [about] [fringes of] OmaN. The “about” potentially confuses as it could be an inclusion indicator rather than an anagram indicator as here.
5 Catch a coin that isn't worth much (6)
COPPER – COP (catch, as in “he was copped for speeding”), PER (a, as in “ 3 per day”/”3 a day”). Yes I know. “a” for “per” is a sneaky setter’s trick, but one worth remembering. I still miss it sometimes.
8 Brown designed inn on Cam (8)
CINNAMON – [designed] (inn on Cam)*.
9 Googled regularly for "type of fish for aquarium"? (4)
GOLD – GoOgLeD [regularly] with the definition being mildly cryptic.
10 Somewhat indelicate source of exotic food (4)
DELI – Hidden in [somewhat] inDELIcate.
11 Students could become money-makers by going topless (8)
LEARNERS – Take the top off the answer and get EARNERS (money-makers).
13 Spicy root that grows primarily in centre of Nigeria (6)
GINGER – G{rows} [primarily] IN [centre of] NiGERia
16 Colour of chopped livers (6)
SILVER – [Chopped] (livers)*.
18 Make a mess of southern dish (8)
SPLATTER – S (southern) PLATTER (dish).
21 Lady Jane's horse? (4)
GREY – Double definition, the first referring to the Nine Days’ Queen.
23 Choice fruit retrieved in corner by good boy (or so he says) (4)
PLUM – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint based on the nursery rhyme Little Jack Horner.
24 Fuel that's cleaner, firm and pale in the middle (8)
CHARCOAL – CHAR (cleaner) CO (company; firm) pALe [in the middle].
25 Old variety of fruit (6)
ORANGE – O (old) RANGE (variety, as in range of goods).
26 Like a coward, give loud shout of pain (6)
YELLOW – YELL OW (give a loud shout of pain).
2 Whisper strange ideas (5)
ASIDE – (ideas)* [strange]. A stage whisper.
3 Noises from pen when starting oblique writing (7)
OINKING – [Starting] O{blique}, INKING (writing in ink). The noises coming from a pig pen, of course.
4 Being more quick-thinking, run after doctor trapped in African river (7)
NIMBLER – MB (doctor) [trapped in] NILE (African river), R (run).
5 Against song ending with a dance (5)
CONGA – CON (against) {son}G [ending] A.
6 Perhaps all great Asian nations started heathen? (5)
PAGAN – An acrostic - Perhaps All Great Asian Nations [started].
7 Blow up General Assembly (7)
ENLARGE – (general)* [assembly].
12 French king's interest (3)
ROI – Double definition, the second being the common abbreviation for Return On Investment (interest).
14 He might spike one politician's beer and run (7)
IMPALER – I (one) MP ALE (politician’s beer) R (run).
15 Tuck into some meatballs (3)
EAT – Hidden in, [some] mEATballs.
16 Such bacon is variable in quality (7)
STREAKY – Double definition.
17 Natural logarithm I'll calculate truncating by two thirds (7)
LOGICAL – LOGarithm I’ll CALculate, with each word losing the last 2/3 of its letters [truncating by two thirds].
19 A head of department with little time for business management (5)
ADMIN – A [head of] D{epartment} MIN (little time).
20 Long time before getting facial hair (5)
TACHE – T (time) ACHE (long).
22 Time to muse (5)
ERATO – ERA (time) TO. One of the nine muses, Erato is the muse of lyric poetry.
Enjoyed puzzle- especially SPLATTER, OINKING, and " long time before" for TACHE. Learned about the ROI connection to interest. Didn't think of natural and LOGICAL as synonyms but see that they can be. Liked all the unusual colours- thanks for entertainment!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it. "Long time before" was irresistible as a wordplay, Thanks.
DeleteGreat puzzle and was about to fail on 3dn until I forced myself to think of something other than the obvious pen.
ReplyDeleteIt went something like this: What else is a pen? It could be a sty..Like a pigsty? Pigs…Who likes pigs? Oink! (Large clattering of pennies dropping)
Anyway - really enjoyed the rest, especially 20dn “Tache” and 24ac “Charcoal”.
Thanks as usual!
JamesEd46
Glad you found the right pen. Thanks for the feedback.
DeleteDNF! I realised it was an animal pen but didn’t think of the famous OINK. Also put GRANNY (Smith apple) for old variety of fruit so failed on TACHE and also looked up fuel. Oh well, it was a good puzzle and I should have been more patient. Liked many clues inc STREAKY, PAGAN, ROI, and PLUM especially.
ReplyDeleteThanks vm, John.
From Countrywoman
Shame you got stuck. I never thought of GRANNY for the fruit, although I think it would have been unfair without the SMITH... and it's not a colour. Better luck next time.
DeleteLovely puzzle, in which for once the NINA was both (a) spotted and (b) helpful, as I guessed both Copper and my LOI Charcoal from looking for a colour without parsing either: a = per is definitely in the "sneaky" camp and Charcoal was too complex for me to work out. 12 minutes in all (it is always 12 minutes or thereabouts for the Saturday Specials - they really are models of consistency in their standard!).
ReplyDeleteNice to meet our friend Erato again, though she probably wishes her fellow muses would just occasionally share the heavy lifting with her. I must one day commit the names of the other 8 to memory too, though I challenge any crossword compiler to get eg Polyhymnia into a puzzle!
Many thanks John for another sparkler of a puzzle
Cedric
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it and didn't get fazed by the colours not making a conventional rainbow. A = per comes up often enough in a 15x15, but I don't remember it in a QC. The answer should have been biffable, so I thought it would be educational. I think I'll pass on the Polyhymnia challenge, though.
DeleteNice puzzle needing some careful and different thinking. Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks, Andrew. My thanks to Phil for suggesting changing "I" to "I'll" to get the truncation clue to work properly.
DeleteWe enjoyed this but don't quite understand the reference to a=per. Which clue does this refer to, please?
ReplyDeleteIt's mentioned in the solution blog underneath the filled in grid....
Delete"5A Catch a coin that isn't worth much (6)
COPPER – COP (catch, as in “he was copped for speeding”), PER (a, as in “ 3 per day”/”3 a day”). Yes I know. “a” for “per” is a sneaky setter’s trick, but one worth remembering. I still miss it sometimes."
That should have been anonymous as CroftCottageBnB doesn't exist any more!
ReplyDeleteYes. I remember a previous conversation about that :-)
DeleteThanks John, that was a most enjoyable puzzle with too many good clues to name a favourite. You beat me with ERATO but I was happy to have solved all the others. Didn’t parse TÂCHE and don’t really see ache for long. One of the joys of these cryptics is the ‘oh I see’ moment when you suddenly see what the setter was thinking.
ReplyDeleteHello Ian. Thanks for commenting. Shame you didn't get ERATO. She's the muse that appears most often in crosswords. The dictionary says ache = long is OK... e.g. "He ached/longed to follow them.", but maybe "long time before" was a bit sneaky!
ReplyDelete