Crossword Roundup: Let's Chop Some Pledges
In the sample clues below, the links direct you to explanations from our series for beginners. The name of the smuggler is often linked to an interview with him, in case you want to know these people better.
The news in cluesIt has been one of those times when you can't tell if the clues are topical on purpose or just because royalty still provides a lot of handy abbreviations. Example: you can't help but wonder when Nutmeg wrote his clue…
1a A king amidst excited fans at the fairly unfazed palace (4,2,1,7)[pun intended : A ('A' ) + K ('king') inside ('in the middle') anagram of FANSATPALACE ][ definition : quite unfazed ]
… for DISH LIKE A CREPE; likewise the index of Pangakupu…
18a Insulting the powerful? Not quite proper to include a joke (4.7) [pun: anagram of ('not exactly') SEEMLY, containing (include) synonym of 'a joke' ][ LESEMY containing A JEST ][ definition: insult the powerful ]
…for LESE MAJESTY.
This last patternOne of the reasons why I find the words " king" strange in a topical context is that they summon a different set of images. For me, "the queen" has always been a real person who plays in stamps and wears hats of different colors. "The King", however, is someone who says things like "I don't care who she loves, my daughter will marry the Duke of Burgundy" and "Bring me more wild boar and send me my goblets". But I get used to it.
"I can't stand this bloody stuff…every time stinky." I'm hoping for more low-level curses from our new king, and I've already incorporated "stink" as a password to vent the little frustration. Pasquale offers us an all-time classic chopped oath:
8d Infinitely slow, are you coming? Blast! (4)[ pun: synonym for “slow” with no last letter (“endless”), then reversed (“rotating upwards”) ][ TARDY – Y, upside down ][ definition: Blast! ]
… in its index for DRAT. What oath is chopped here? Moving on to this newspaper's Nancy Banks-Smith, whose most recent article was about The Archers, a soap opera whose focus on environmental issues Nancy found infuriating in 2008:
Recently, Ambridge has become so eco-trendy, with transitioning initiatives and anaerobic digesters and electronic simulators, it's teeth-chilling. God will rot them all! A remark which at least has the merit of being Anglo-Saxon and, come to think of it, biodegradable.
Around 1600, English speakers, reluctant to say "God" or "Lord" while irritated, devised workarounds, including "Gad"...
In the sample clues below, the links direct you to explanations from our series for beginners. The name of the smuggler is often linked to an interview with him, in case you want to know these people better.
The news in cluesIt has been one of those times when you can't tell if the clues are topical on purpose or just because royalty still provides a lot of handy abbreviations. Example: you can't help but wonder when Nutmeg wrote his clue…
1a A king amidst excited fans at the fairly unfazed palace (4,2,1,7)[pun intended : A ('A' ) + K ('king') inside ('in the middle') anagram of FANSATPALACE ][ definition : quite unfazed ]
… for DISH LIKE A CREPE; likewise the index of Pangakupu…
18a Insulting the powerful? Not quite proper to include a joke (4.7) [pun: anagram of ('not exactly') SEEMLY, containing (include) synonym of 'a joke' ][ LESEMY containing A JEST ][ definition: insult the powerful ]
…for LESE MAJESTY.
This last patternOne of the reasons why I find the words " king" strange in a topical context is that they summon a different set of images. For me, "the queen" has always been a real person who plays in stamps and wears hats of different colors. "The King", however, is someone who says things like "I don't care who she loves, my daughter will marry the Duke of Burgundy" and "Bring me more wild boar and send me my goblets". But I get used to it.
"I can't stand this bloody stuff…every time stinky." I'm hoping for more low-level curses from our new king, and I've already incorporated "stink" as a password to vent the little frustration. Pasquale offers us an all-time classic chopped oath:
8d Infinitely slow, are you coming? Blast! (4)[ pun: synonym for “slow” with no last letter (“endless”), then reversed (“rotating upwards”) ][ TARDY – Y, upside down ][ definition: Blast! ]
… in its index for DRAT. What oath is chopped here? Moving on to this newspaper's Nancy Banks-Smith, whose most recent article was about The Archers, a soap opera whose focus on environmental issues Nancy found infuriating in 2008:
Recently, Ambridge has become so eco-trendy, with transitioning initiatives and anaerobic digesters and electronic simulators, it's teeth-chilling. God will rot them all! A remark which at least has the merit of being Anglo-Saxon and, come to think of it, biodegradable.
Around 1600, English speakers, reluctant to say "God" or "Lord" while irritated, devised workarounds, including "Gad"...
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