NTSPP 820

14 comments on “NTSPP 820”

1. Quick note to say that the link to the crossword is broken. I am investigating and I hope it will be available soon.

   1. And solved!

2. A very enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Buddy.
   Top clues for me were 11a, 14a, 19a and 3d.

3. This was very challenging in parts but hugely enjoyable from start to finish.

   I learned two new words: malar, ens; and a new meaning of sally. My only reservation is that I can’t see any justification for the use of “nervous” as an anagram indicator in 28a.

   I had ticks aplenty with 11a, 15a, 23a (with special thanks for the American indicator!), 3d & 16d fighting it out for podium places.

   Many thanks, Buddy. This was superb.

   1. Reading SL’s review (for which many thanks) made me realise that my comment about “nervous” was unclear.

      Yes, absolutely 28a needs two anagram indicators. It’s just that I don’t think nervous is a valid one.

4. Quite challenging and somewhat of a curate’s egg for me. 27a was a ‘bung-in’ based on the checkers; from its etymology, I can see how it can be a synonym of judge but the parsing remains a mystery. I hope Stephen L has better luck!

   Smiles for 11a, 23a, 16d, and 24d.

   Thanks Buddy and and thanks in advance to the aforementioned Stephen L.

   1. Senf, the parsing of 27a did take quite some teasing out, but I took it as a reversal (“backsliding”) of a synonym of “sees” + E (early sign of Embezzler).

5. This definitely wasn’t a ‘walk in the park’ and some of the parsing only clicked into place when I revisited the completed grid after a bit of investigating and a break for refreshment- mug of coffee, although the bottle of wine did look rather tempting in this instance!
   Some clever wordplay on display, almost too clever on occasion, with my top three being 15a plus 3&16d.

   Many thanks for the challenge, Buddy.

6. I found parts of this quite challenging too – and I’d only decided to solve it to give my brain a rest from the Elgar York Special

   Thanks to Buddy and Stephen

7. Agree that it was a fair bit tougher than the SPP. A fair few of the whys travelled on a later bus with the 1st 3 letters of 7d + 15a still waiting to board one. Very enjoyable too. Podium spots go to 3,10&16d.
   Thanks Buddy & in advance to Stephen.

8. Thanks all for the comments and to SL for the review. A few notes (all defs from Chambers):
   -RD, nervous is defined as “in a jumpy state”; among the synonyms in the Thesaurus are “agitated, fidgety, shaky”. Seemed OK to me at the time.
   -“Deed”=”an exploit, esp heroic”

   Interesting to note that many found it harder than usual. Not my intention.

   1. Thanks for clarifying and a great puzzle

9. I’ve been under the weather for a few days and put this aside for early bedtime relaxation. There were a few things that weren’t particularly relaxing – some definition synonyms that didn’t spring to mind and some ‘previously unknown to me’ bits of wordplay; but all the synonyms survived a second look this morning and dictionary checks confirmed my ‘Cheeky’, ‘deep sleep’ and ‘being’ bits of wordplay. Anyway, combined with the extra hour this morning I managed to get a good night’s sleep so my thanks to Buddy for the medicinal dose of evening enjoyment. My podium selections are somewhat different to other commentator’s selections being 1, 19 & 26 in the Across clues and 10, 20 & 24 in the Down clues.
   Thanks again to Buddy and to StephenL for the review – the ‘nicely disguised definitions’ do appear to be a distinguishing feature of Buddy’s puzzles.

10. Many thanks for the review, Stephen. It will be interesting to see what Buddy’s next contribution is like given that he says it wasn’t his intention to make this one trickier than usual.

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