A Puzzle by Dabrite
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
As usual, the setter will be delighted to receive feedback from you, the solvers. We do ask that you remember that for most setters this is a new experience, so please only offer constructive criticism.
There is a saying that “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it!” I feel that this sums up perfectly the experience of reviewing crosswords set by Dabrite. The same points highlighted in review after review recur in later crosswords. This is the sixth crossword produced by Dabrite and the commentometer today reads as 9/30 or 30%. If anything, the number of issues appears to be increasing with each successive crossword.
Across
7a Wrinkled retainer‘s disorderly struggle to keep books (7)
SCROTUM: A five-letter word for a disorderly struggle includes (to keep) the abbreviation for Old Testament (books).
8a To enter uninvited with private member could be imprudent (7)
INTRUDE: A reverse anagram where the answer comes from an anagram (could be) of the solution with MP makes imprudent. I don’t think that private member leads to the MP required for the wordplay. You need member of parliament for this.
9a Easy to see sign giving way to divine lady of the night is brazenly rude (9)
OBNOXIOUS: A seven-letter word meaning easy to see has the V (sign) replaced by (giving way to) NOX (divine lady of the night). Dalbrite has an unerring tendency to use obscure general knowledge in his clues. This is a prime example with the Roman goddess of the night being required in the solution.
11a Sell back car (4)
GOLF: A reversal (back) of a four-letter word meaning to sell.
12a Commercial victory welcomed by trade organisation (6)
ADVERT: The abbreviation for victory inside an anagram (organisation) of TRADE. Some editors will not allow nouns such as organisation to be used an anagram indicator.
14a Tory on vacation dispensed with anxiety about hospitality to strangers (5)
XENIA: An anagram (about) of ANXIETY after removing (dispensed with) the outer letters (on vacation) of tory.
16a Blood-sucking parasite one taken to task might find in lughole? (4)
FLEA: Cryptic definition – someone taken to task may be said to have this in their ear.
18a Native of western Atlantic region leaving me to embrace love for St John’s bread (5)
CAROB: A five-letter word for a native of the western Atlantic region with the I (me) removed (leaving) around (to embrace) the letter representing love or zero.
20a 999 in City of Angels and City of Kings (4)
LIMA: The Roman numeral for 999 inside (in) the abbreviation for Los Angeles (City of Angels). Unfortunately, the Roman numerals for 999 is CMXCIX so the clue does not work.
21a Classical upper storey (5)
ATTIC: Double definition.
23a Bust done for German (6)
KAPUTT: Double definition though in reality a single definition given the close connection between the English and the German meanings.
25a Auntie is Queen Beatrix the First? (4)
BEEB: A three-letter word for an insect that can follow the word Queen and the first letter of Beatrix. Unlike a cat that has an independent meaning as queen, I don’t think that Queen on its own leads to the word required in the solution. Where you have a compound noun, you cannot use one part of the noun to indicate the second part of the noun.
27a Nice large cast like velcro band-aid (9)
GENERICAL: An anagram (cast) of NICE LARGE.
29a Hag with 26 over-intellectual (7)
EGGHEAD: An anagram (over) of HAG EDGE (the answer to 26d). You should not link the wordplay to the solution, even with a hyphen.
30a Not forthcoming about reported Gen Z American’s power to convince (7)
COGENCY: A three-letter word meaning not forthcoming around (about) a homophone (reported) of how an American would say Gen Z.
Down
1d Nymph spurned by narcissist daily in Liverpool (4)
ECHO: Double definition. Another clue where you need more obscure knowledge of the titles of regional newspapers.
2d City slicker and 15 in standoff (6)
TOWNIE: A three-letter word that is a synonym for the answer to 15D inside (in) a three-letter word for a standoff.
3d Wild-eyed fast bowler’s said to have zero muscle twitch (8)
QUIXOTIC: A homophone (said) of QUICK’S (fast bowler’s) followed by the letter representing zero and a three-letter word for a muscle twitch. I don’t think that fast bowler’s on its own is a sufficient indictor to get you to the word required to make a homophone.
4d Gender-neutral carnal knowledge in seat of learning? (6)
UNISEX: Split (3,3), this might imply carnal knowledge in a university.
5d Ignoramus opening trap in test for master (8)
ORIGINAL: The first letter (opening) of ignoramus and a three-letter word for a trap inside (in) a four-letter word for a test. A opening does not imply the first letter of A in the cryptic grammar of the clue – it would need to be A’s opening. Also be careful about repeating wordplay indicators. In as an insertion indicator was used in 2d.
6d Language student like Billy’s hero (4)
IDOL: A three-letter artificial language followed by the abbreviation for a student.
10d Steroid store gone bust (9)
OESTROGEN: An anagram (bust) of STORE GONE. A major point to watch in grid construction is avoiding triple unches (three consecutive white squares that are not cross-checked by another solution. This clue has two triple unches. It means that for a nine-letter solution, only three letters (33.3%) are cross-checked. You should aim to produce grids where each solution has 50% of the letters cross-checked. Occasionally you may have five letter solutions with only two cross-checked letters but you should try to keep these to a minimum.
13d Greek character following old woman reportedly after Charlie as well (5)
DELTA: The Greek letter that follows Gamma (old woman reportedly) and that comes after Charlie in the NATO phonetic alphabet. I don’t think that the homophone remotely works.
15d Take in American lawyer about speaking clock returning (5)
ADMIT: The abbreviation for District Attorney (American lawyer) reversed (about) followed by the three-letter name of the speaking clock reversed (returning).
17d Single interstate expressway in Central Europe (8)
AUTOBAHN: Double or triple definition with a single released in the 1970s by Kraftwerk, an interstate highway and an expressway in Central Europe. To use single to define a recorded released by an unnamed band released 50 years ago is to obscure to be fair. Also defining the solution as an interstate or American highway is pushing it.
19d Tom and John put together “What’s Our Line?” (8)
BAKERLOO: The name of the Dr Who actor Tom followed by a three-letter word for a toilet or john. As Tom is being used as a definition by example, this should be indicated.
22d Hennessy for one cent can go the other way (6)
COGNAC: The abbreviation for cent followed by the can go from the clue all reversed (the other way).
24d Johnson‘s spirits (6)
PECKER: Double definition, the first being slang for a male appendage.
26d 1 13 11 1’s unconventional quality (4)
EDGE: The letters in the NATO phonetic alphabet represented by the solutions give in the clue.
28d Boys in blue not backing up work – they’re lousy buggers! (4)
LICE: A seven-letter word for the boys in blue without (not) a reversal (backing up) the two-letter abbreviation for work. Avoid using the repetition of wordplay indicators that are from the same root such as back (11a) and backing up (here) as reversal indicator.
Another extremely tough crossword – I did have to reveal letters to finish – and I’m not entirely sure that 7a is something one wants to think about over the breakfast cereal.
I didn’t think 17d was particularly cryptic but I did like 16a, 1d and 26d, the latter being a particularly clever way of using the NATO Phonetic Alphabet.
Thank you Dabrite. I’m sure we’ve asked this before, but please come back with something a lot more solver-friendly next time.. Thanks in advance to Prolixic
I’ll echo what CS said. I found it pretty tough and revealed letters in the SE corner to get over the line.
7a is an old chestnut and went straight in but after that it was a struggle and there are a couple of clues I can’t fully parse.
The bottom line of the grid looks as though it’s part of a Nina but I can’t see the rest.
I did like 8a, 16a, 4d and 5d. Thanks to Dabrite.
Thanks for the puzzle Dabrite. I’ll echo what both CS and Gazza said really – there’s some good ideas here, but it’s way too hard. I revealed a few letters to get me over the finish line.
The trick with 26d is very nice – not sure I’ve seen that done before. I liked 16a and 19d too.
The triple unchecked letters in 10d is normally frowned on, I think, although you get away with it a bit because the clue is one of the easier ones. I’m not convinced the homophone in 30a works either, although I may be missing something with the parsing.
Thanks in advance to Prolixic.
Way too hard for me, Dabrite. Please remember that crosswords are supposed to be fun.
Thanks in advance to Prolixic.
Despite spending a lot of time on this, I’ve only managed about 10 answers and regret to say that I’m giving up on it. Apologies, Dabrite, but I really think you should dial back the difficulty.
20a. L(CMXCIX)A?
I only checked because I once wrote this clue:
Sticking with Roman numerals, Jose Torres of Chapel en le Frith, High Peak, would have been a shoo-in for a podium place but for the fact that 49 in Roman numerals is XLIX, not IL:
Chicken 50.49, then delivery disrupted! (4-7)
*51.50 would have been OK.
(LILY-LIVERED).
I can only 1d everything that’s already been said really. The grid is awful, even if 10d is an easyish anagram, there is no excuse for having a nine-letter word with just three checking letters. It is important to avoid using “home-made” grids at all costs.
Like others, I had no option but to reveal letters, plenty of them, otherwise the alternative was to abandon the puzzle completely, which I am always reluctant to do. Many of the clues are verbose and many of the surfaces were unconvincing at best and I can’t say I enjoyed the choice of solutions such as 7a or 24d. The inter-connected nature of certain clues only added to the complexity, unfortunately. I don’t think 23a is very cryptic at all and something like “Tom” in 19d definitely needs a “perhaps” or “maybe” etc.
I’m sorry, Dabrite, you’ve misjudged the level of difficulty here really badly. Thank you for the submission, but this wasn’t a fair battle between setter and solver.
That really was quite tough, and on several occasions I thought of the answer, couldn’t parse it, and revealed a letter to confirm I was not barking up the wrong tree, and still await with interest the parsings of a couple of answers. Highlights for me were 16a, 21a, 1d & 26d.
7a – works as a cryptic clue, but IMV just isn’t necessary – it felt like a cheeky schoolboy had wanted to put in something shocking just for the sake of it.
8a – should there be an anagram indicator here? Otherwise intrude mp does not give you imprudent.
11a – the G gave me the answer, but ‘car’ on its own for a specific model from a particular manufacturer is rather broad
12a – not sure that “organisation” works as an anagram indicator – noun and verb, IIRC
29a – are you instructing a “lift and separate” of “over-intellectual”, and using “over” as the anagram indicator? Otherwise I saw what you intended but the clue doesn’t really work for me.
30a – the American Z / ‘c’ homophone is fine, but “reported” seems to serve no purpose
3d – I’m unconvinced that “wild eyed” is quite synonymous with the answer (BRB: “extravagantly romantic in ideals of chivalrous in action; absurdly generous and unselfish”)
6d – I loved his early 80s music and as my LOI this was a real “Doh!” moment, but “language” for homophone and “student” for idle both felt wrong to me, unless I’m misreading it?
19d – I loved the Tom, John & Line bit, but the “what’s our” element seems to serve no purpose other than padding the surface.
24d – you have pecker in the singular for Johnson (probably needs a US indicator too), but spirits in the plural. I know the two sayings are “keep your spirits up” / “keep your pecker up”, but the grammar of the clue doesn’t sit quite right for me, and again it is a bit “deliberately off colour”, more Guardian than Times or DT.
Yes this was tough, and there are certainly some rough edges needing polishing, as well as the puzzle being somewhat verbose in places (I’m a fine one to remark on that …!) but it was a satisfying solve and I would certainly look forward to another Dabrite puzzle with anticipation, knowing there would be a challenge ahead.
Many thanks, Dabrite, and thank you in advance to Prolixic
I take back what I said about 30a – reported is certainly needed, I’m just uncertain it should be in front of Gen, which appears unchanged in the answer, while what you want is cee to sound like zee.
Too difficult for us to finish without revealing letters – and that took the fun away. Please come back with an easier to solve puzzle next time, Dabrite. Thanks in advance to Prolixic as we need to read his pearls of wisdom tomorrow to parse some of the answers.
Many thanks for the review, Prolixic. Having given up on this, I did then reveal the solution and try to work it out backwards but it felt rather unsatisfactory – your words of wisdom did help to explain it all but I was left feeling very unimpressed.
My apologies, Dabrite, but I don’t think your puzzles are for me.