Here are the solutions to yesterday's clues:
At the meridian, | there is | no | east and west (4)
[NOON] [=] [NO] [palindrome]
Hearer | of | Oracle | pronouncement (7)
[AURICLE] [=] [ORACLE] [homophone]
Pakistanis wrap | return | on | investments (4)
[SARI] [reversed] [=] [IRAS]
Sound | investment | for | ranger (4)
[homophone] [LOAN] [=] [LONE {ranger}]
Familiar old strings | used for | radical idea | in | space shuttle program (6)
[STRADS] [=] [RAD] [inside] [S.T.S. {Space Transport System}]
This is very late today due to virus problems on my computer, which I hope have now been solved.
I didn't get to the Seattle Times yet today, so all five Cryptic clues are from LAT. An acrostic, subtraction, reversal, and hidden, plus one that's hard to classify. One of them is in the wrong direction in the grid above.
There's no humor to an Iraq sandstorm or tube (4)
Mount Etna is going to pot (4)
Something to watch is how good's the view at the west ends (4)
In Tibet, Angola, and in Cyprus it's the second character (4)
Drab color mixed with a touch of tint gives violet (5)
Owen
ReplyDelete1. I am quite familiar with the Lone Ranger. My point is that “ranger” does not by itself define “Lone”. “this ranger” or even "a ranger" might work.
3. Your note to AnonT: “ Scrambled side-order passed would be excellent.” That is still the wrong tense. Scrambled side-order turns to dust maybe?
Rationale for my clues/answers:
1. Heard about the old British loaf? (3,5)
Heard = READ (as in “I read you loud and clear”, but past tense, which is spelled the same)
The old = YE
British = BR
R-EAD about YEBR = RYE BREAD = LOAF
2. G-string is equivalent to Eastern sound combination (5).
Sound combination = DIPHTHONG, Eastern DIPHTHONG = right half of DIPHTHONG=THONG = G-string.
Now to your clues:
1. There's no humor to an Iraq sandstorm or tube (4) Score (7). This one initially stumped me. I could only think of one kind of tube from the crossword. I then assumed that I was looking for a middle-East-origin word for a sandstorm, with “humor” = ha,ho,etc., removed. The keyword was unknown to me or my MacDictionary, but I eventually found it on Google. TADA! NYT Friday level.
2. Mount Etna is going to pot (4) Score (9). Most effective use of “Mount” as well as and phrase misdirection.
3. Something to watch is how good's the view at the west ends (4)
Score (7). …at the West End” might have been better since this is an area of London (maybe other cities?).
4. In Tibet, Angola, and in Cyprus it's the second character (4) I spent a lot of time thinking the answer was “INNY” from the second letters of the given words (tIbet, aNgola, iN cYprus), even though the LAT spells it INNIE. Also, this would be a characteristic rather than a character. Then I realized I was a complete OUTIE on this one, and it was a simple hidden clue, I thought at first with lots of baggage; but to explain the second "in", the baggage is removed. Note, however, that only part of Cyprus is Greek. Well, got their in the end.
5. Drab color mixed with a touch of tint gives violet (5) Score 4: This clue seems backwards to me, leading away from the definition to a cryptic anagram. Shouldn’t it be “Violet without a touch of tint would be drab”. ?
I have seen constructions where a single letter was missing from the cryptic clue: e.g. “Drab musical lacks the right stuff” where OLIVE (drab) = OLIVER (musical) lacking R (right stuff).
NC
One clue. Obvious enough I suppose, but couldn't resist:
ReplyDelete“The Cold War is over (with some State oversight) for this Cold War nymph” (8).
NC
Got yours, though I wouldn't have without the grid. All parts of it are plain enough in hindsight, but too general in your clue for me to have guessed them without knowing the answer in advance.
ReplyDeleteI take it you weren't watching the news or reading the paper about 2 weeks ago?
The additive clue on 5 was to avoid having two clues with the same technique in the same batch, plus just to give a variety twist to a clue.