i Cryptic Crossword 1916 Hypnos
March 30, 2017
It’s an IoS reprint today, so nothing overly taxing. A little trouble with 14d (that I was pleased to get from the wordplay) and 25ac meant though that my time was, on the dot, par for the i. I don’t know how 18ac would have read back in the day, but it’s particularly neat now that she’s been promoted, rather surprisingly it would have appeared in 2012. I didn’t know the school referenced in 9ac, but luckily did know the cyclist. At 21d I spent far too long trying to justify EMMET. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing they say.
COD? 7d – ‘Sparkle namely in work foreign character brought up (11)’.
To December 2012 already?
http://www.fifteensquared.net/2012/12/02/independent-on-sunday-1188hypnos/
I took far too long to parse 2dn. Needed the fifteensquared blog to explain the workers’ protest in 17ac (just couldn’t see what that was going to be); otherwise pleasant enough. Really nice anagram at 11dn.
So entertaining I was sorry to finish. Quite a few smiles today, including 18ac which has clearly been updated in some way, and 22ac was worth an audible chuckle. Sterling work by Hypnos.
Another satisfied customer here – let’s also mention the chuckle-worthy 13a.
18a is a very rare beast – presumably ‘Home Secretary’ in the original, Eimi’s rewrite actually improves it; now there’s a stroke of luck!
Radley College is an addition to my lexicon, as is sc.; Live & learn, live & learn.
I enjoyed this. Just one unresolved question on 23d… How does “covering” mean “take off”? The original blog didn’t explain!
Well I interpreted it that if you wrote ‘SAGA’ but covered the last letter – with your finger say (I’ve just done so) – it appears as ‘SAG’.
If anyone’s reading this today (31st March) can you please see if you can find the clues for 25 and 27 down and post them? It would be most gratefully appreciated
My copy of the paper went out with the recycling, sorry. Not sure if anyone else still has it?
No sorry I meant that (in my copy at least) today’s puzzle is printed with two clues missing (well three, if you count 3 down) and I’d like to try and at finish it
25: Company delivering heat unit (5)
27/3: US political figure, my remit not liberal (4,6)
[courtesy of the i paper Twitter page]
Thanks! 🙂