Globe and Mail Cryptic 20180110

Wednesday January 10, 2018

Difficulty: medium-easy

Skipping obvious ones; definitions underlined.

Across

22. Drinks and a sandwich
Round [double def]: A round of drinks. Also, mostly British usage for the slices of bread used to make a sandwich (I think).

25. His bank account is often misleading
Angler [cryptic]: Not so sure about this one... an angler can be a schemer or scammer, so he's likely not to keep proper accounts?


Down

1. Make an offer for a boat
Tender [double def]: a tender can be a small service boat, or a dinghy attached to a yacht.

14. Utterly pompous
Orotund [cryptic]: I suppose the "utterly" part means spoken, and orotund means a pompous or bombastic style of speech. I like the quote at the Online Etymology Dictionary:

The odd thing about the word is that its only currency, at least in its non-technical sense, is among those who should most abhor it, the people of sufficient education to realize its bad formation; it is at once a monstrosity in its form & a pedantry in its use. [Fowler]

Globe and Mail Cryptic 20180109

Tuesday January 9, 2018

Difficulty: medium-hard

DNF. Missed 8A, 5D, 18D

Skipping obvious ones; definitions underlined.

Across

8. Inventor's fate is to produce one thing after another!
Train of events [anagram]: I'm not too familiar with this phrase. And I missed the anagram.

11. A household word in France
Menage [cryptic]: menage mean household in French

19. A word of questionable value
Interrogative [cryptic]: Had interrogation for this, which threw me off for 18D

21. They should be allowed to be themselves, we're told
Bygones [cryptic]: Missed it, but I like it. Let bygones be bygones.

Down

18. Unused grounds
Dregs [double def?]: This was not clear to me. I guess dregs can mean remnants (unused?), but to me it's not usual to call (coffee) grounds "dregs", unless it might mean the bits left in the bottom of a poured cup of coffee.

Globe and Mail Cryptic 20180108

Monday January 08, 2018

Difficulty: hard

Several tough ones for me I didn't get: 23A, 26A, 21D, 22D. Guessed, but had to look up 9A and 27A.

Skipping obvious ones; definitions underlined.

Across

1. Many fish are found in shallow water
Shoal [double def]: A shoal is a shallow area in water like a sandbar. It is also a name for a school of fish.

9. Game brings Harry and mother together
Halma [charade]: I was not familiar with this game.

23. They blow, as a tornado does apparently
Winds [cryptic]: I couldn't get this one. Winds blow and torandos wind (twist).

26. A lofty approach, of course
Chip shot [cryptic]: I should have got this one. I had the "o" from a cross, and I was thinking "iron", so I was on the right track, recognizing "course" = gold course.

27. Do impressive work as a huntsman?
Chase [cryptic]: Guessed "chase". Apparently it can also mean "to ornament (metal) by engraving or embossing."


Down

14. Satanic food in which there's no good
Devilish [cryptic]: I get the satanic part, but not sure what the rest means. What food has no good? Devilfish?

21. He seems to be against splitting the profit
Gavin [charade]: against (v = versus) splitting (within) profit (gain)

22. Give a rise to one in the army
Hoist [charade]: one (i) in the army (host)

Globe and Mail Cryptic 20100104

Thursday January 04, 2018

Difficulty: medium-hard

Trouble in north-west corner: couldn't get detached, touches, or cables-length

Skipping obvious ones; definitions underlined.

Across

1. Separated, being indifferent
Detached [double def]: I had divorced first. Got it once I figured out the cross from "touches".

5. Standard feature of Saturn or Mars
Norm [hidden word]

17. They help people grow better
Green fingers [cryptic]: Here of course they're called "green thumbs".


Down

2. Appeals emotionally for a loan
Touches [cryptic/double def?]: For some reason I couldn't come up with "touches" for (asking for) loans. I have read enough Wodehouse to be very familiar with the term. But I guess I don't use it myself, so it didn't occur to me.

3. Measure how many words in a telegram?
Cables length [double def]: A "cable's length" is a nautical measure (720ft US or 608ft UK). I didn't remember a telegram was called a cable. I knew it, but don't use it (like "touch" above). Telegrams are before my time.

Globe and Mail Cryptic 20100103

Wednesday January 03, 2018

Difficulty: medium

Skipping obvious ones; definitions underlined.

Across

20. Take cover
Insure [cryptic?]: Wasn't certain about this answer. To cover is to insure perhaps. But to take isn't to insure as far as I can see, and "take cover" doesn't sound like a definition for insure either. Maybe take coverage? Am I missing something?


Down

3. Republic is setting up a king
Israel [charade]: is + rael (king Lear backwards)

4. Naughty nun's feat is to unzip!
Unfasten [anagram]: I thought this one was funny :) Naughty nuns unzipping! Maybe I just have a puerile sense of humour.

5. Wild capers may get you into one
Scrape [cryptic]: I was wondering how capers could get you into a scrape, but then I figured out it's not what you put on smoked salmon, but "capers" as in pranks or robberies.

6. Sad boy seen when a vessel is about to leave
Blue Peter [double def]: Never heard of a Blue Peter. Maybe Brits are more familiar with it due to the long running kid's TV show. It's a nautical symbol/flag that means the ship is ready to sail.

14. Somehow ends Red China
Dresden [anagram]: I have never heard of Dresden china, but it seems to be the oldest and maybe most famous in Europe, also called Meissen porcelain.

Globe and Mail Cryptic 20100102

Tuesday January 02, 2018

Difficulty: Hard


North-west corner stymied me. Had to resort to google to finish.

Skipping obvious ones; definitions underlined.

Across

7. A love outwardly secure
Nail [charade]: "A" with love ("nil") around it (outwardly)

8. International shipping line
Plimsoll [cryptic]: A Plimsoll line (or waterline) are lines on the sides of ships to indicate safe load levels. I didn't know this (or likely have forgotten it).

10. Superficially he maintains our ways
Road mender [cryptic]: I guessed this, but wasn't very convinced. Maybe more of a British term.

12. Fishermen use many spinners
Creels [charade]: C (many; C = 100) + reels (spinners). Is "use" part of the definition? Creels are wicker baskets for holding fish, not fishermen themselves as far as I know. But "fishermen use" sounds like an incomplete definition to me.



Down

3. One way of underlining a decision
Ruling [double def.]: I had trouble getting this one until I got the "L" from Plimsoll.

4. A sober habit
Temperance [cryptic]: I had abstinence first, which threw things off a bit (not to mention misspelling it with an "A").

5. Cry from a small boat
Ahoy [double-def]: I had "yawl" here first, which seemed to fit pretty well (yawl is a British variant of yowl). A "hoy" is another kind of small boat: "a small sloop-rigged coasting ship."

6. Kissed perhaps - the usual start between girl and boy
Saluted [charade]: Sal (girl's name) + u (start of "usual") + ted (boy's name). Saluted meaning kissed seems a bit tenuous to me.