Irish Times Crossword (Crosaire)

Laurent, I was just looking that sample dictionary pages that I linked the other day. On screen the typeface look a bit blotchy, or perhaps a bit dark. I can assure you that they are perfect in the physical books.

8a - 9a - 10a - 11a - 12a - 13a - 15a - 17a - 19a - 22a - 24a - 27a - 29a - 30a - 31a - 32a -
1d - 2d - 3d - 4d - 5d - 6d - 7d - 14d - 16d - 18d - 20d - 21d - 23d - 25d - 26d - 28d -

Yes 4d is interesting because it has no definition but three cryptic parts:

little brother = should be = coarse inside =

Spike440 wrote: »

Yes 4d is interesting because it has no definition but three cryptic parts:

little brother =

BR or BRO

should be =

OUGHT

coarse inside =

ROUGH

That's a better analysis - I was trying to get for "coarse" inside for "little brother".

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

1a - 9a - 10a - 11a - 12a - 13a - 17a - 19a - 20a - 21a - 23a - 27a - 28a - 29a - 30a - 31a -
2d - 3d - 4d - 5d - 6d - 7d - 8d - 14d - 15d - 16d - 17d - 18d - 22d - 25d - 26d -
I'm just missing 24d. Any takers?

It was a typo.

What's your logic for 24d?

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

1A 4A 9A 10A 12A 13A 16A 17A 22A 24A 27A 28A 31A 32A 33A 34A 35A
1D 2D 3D 5D 6D 7D 8D 11D 14D 18D 19D 20D 21D 23D 25D 26D 29D 30D

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

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.

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/

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.

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

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 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.

Finding it difficult today. Answers so far:

1A 10A 12A 15A 18A 24A 26A 30A 31A 32A 34A
2D 3D 4D 5D 13D 17D 19D 20D 22D 23D 25D 27D
Now for the elusive right half of the puzzle!

Spike440 wrote: »

1d -

DEPORT

I think actually .

Spike440 wrote: »

I'm having real difficulty with the missing 5 in SW. I think maybe 24a is

REFOREST/DEFORIST/ARBORIST

.

31A is . But I don't see the others (haven't had time to concentrate on the puzzle today). Could 24A be ? At least it fits the "by the sound of it" angle.

My logic for 10 across was because the image of a came to be but the clue says "one's" which usually indicates an individual. I wasn't sure about it but nothing else springs to mind.

Hard one today.

9a - 11a - 13a - 17a - 19a - 20a - 21a - 23a - 27a - 28a - 29a - 30a - 31a - Maybe
5d - 6d - 7d - 8d - 14d - 15d - 16d - 17d - 18d - 22d - 24d - 25d -
I'm only missing 26d which I originally thought was SHARES and NW corner.