Crosswords for all!!!

[Andy Warton]

This thread's for anyone who does crosswords - whether religiously or (like me) when you can be bothered. I think it'd be a nice place to post clues you're stuck with, to offer to the wisdom of the greater membership. So, without further ado - crosswords for all!!

I thought I'd start off with a few clues I've been struggling with. These are from a literary publication called The Reader, which I think is available in the US too.

16 Across: Brass discovered in Europe's ETA survey (7): P_S_ _ _S
17 Across: Back in the mountain air, I breathe in the smell of this highly flavoured dish (7): B_ _ _ A_I
24 Across: Nervously attributable to a wandering gait (7): A _ _ _ _ _ O

navneeth offered this link http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/28/stories/2006072800110900.htm the local newspaper's CW; Selma offered these two:
http://games.latimes.com/
and http://www.sbsun.com/crossword.

Thanks everyone for your posts on the question of this thread.

[navneeth]

Spoiler-warning - Possible answers to Andy's Clues

24A : Agitato?


Wild guess based on letters and "highly flavoured dish"
17A : Biryani

Edit#2 - I disregarded this answer having looked at the clue the wrong way.

16A - Pesetas (Europe's ETA survey)

[Andy Warton]

Wow! Thanks, navneeth! Those clues all seem to be spot on! Thanks so much.

Spoiler-warning - possible answers for navneeth.

I looked at the link to The Hindu: I don't know how much of it you've done, but I think...
1 Across ("In life, Mac strayed, creating evil") is "malefic" - a mix up of mac and life .
3 down is "eat out" ("what to do when the kitchen is out of service")
9 down is "calming" (appease by placing a hundred [100=C] in collection vessel [alms bowl])
22 is "tell" (Swiss hero, say)
I'll post more when I get them.

Got couple more of my own:
20 down: returning in part to reveal vigour intrinsic to this for of arch (6): O_I_A_
15 down: perhaps showing special marks but not suffering from distorted images (9): _T_G_A_I_
6 down: sign of cereal on an island (9): _A_R_C_R_
23 down (last one!): this field of battle is conjured up in our awareness of a ghostly presence (5): _P_E_

And you're right - there should be a definite spoiler warning for all posts here! Thanks again.

[navneeth]

I did just a handful of today's crossword. As for 1A, I knew it was an anagram, but the actual word escaped me. Got 3 and 22. I think the one with the thyroid and stuff is Endocrine.

[Shapley]

15 down looks like STIGMATIC

[dai bread]

20 down = ogival (reading backwards from one of the "O"s.

15 I'd agree is stigmatic. Distorted images = astigmatic.

6 down = capri corn (the goat).

23 down = ypres. (ghostly presence). Ypres is a WW1 battlefield, and may not be familiar to people younger than me. Not that I fought there. I'm not that old!

If I've spoilt anything for anybody, I apologise. Maybe I should post something from my paper's Saturday cryptic crossword to make up for it.

[Andy Warton]

Thanks a lot everyone.

Ypres is a WW1 battlefield, and may not be familiar to people younger than me. Not that I fought there. I'm not that old!

Don't worry, dai:
(a) I know about Ypres; the standards of modern education may be slipping, but they aren't that bad!
(b) we know you're not that old

[navneeth]

Yet another AGITATO? Or is it AGITATE?

Here's a clue from today's paper...

27A: A girl to give indication of how to play music in a stirred up way (7)

A_I_A_ _

I'm quite sure about the I and the second A.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/29/stories ... 330900.htm

I went through the all the tempo indicators that I knew, but nothing seems to fit.

I going to mail the people who maintain the website to make a permanent link for stuff like crossword and sudoku similar to the LA Times (or any other top newspaper, for that matter).

[Catmando]

I have a question for crossword/sudoku "historical buffs", if there exist any individuals.

I've noticed that every standard crossword or sudoku that I do, is created in a symmetrical pattern. Is this simply a concidence, or is this a so-called set "rule" of crossword or sudoku creation?

[Catmando]

Here is a link to creating your own crosswords, and other types of puzzles.

http://www.crauswords.com/manual.html#Making%20Standard

Wouldn't it be great to create or be able to do Classical Music themed crossword puzzles?

[Andy Warton]

Wouldn't it be great to create or be able to do Classical Music themed crossword puzzles?

Very. And yes, I think the symmetry thing is a rule/convention (though I'm no buff).

navneeth, I think "agitato" makes the most sense - though, from the clue, I would have thought that there'd be a girl's name in the answer somewhere.

[navneeth]

Here's another clue from the same crossword...

12A Kind of survey by a clad star dismissed ( 8 )

It's definitely anagram of CLAD STAR, but even the anagram finder couldn't find a word.

Btw, the anagram finder is great! Just type in your name(or any other word/phrase) and go through the list. Sometimes it can be hilarious. Also, check out the Topical Anagrams.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

27A: A girl to give indication of how to play music in a stirred up way (7) A_I_A_ _

ANIMATA might work.

I have no ideas for your starclad anagram. Dismissed?

[navneeth]

27A: A girl to give indication of how to play music in a stirred up way (7) A_I_A_ _

ANIMATA might work.

ANIMATO might. But how does it fit the clue?

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

27A: A girl to give indication of how to play music in a stirred up way (7) A_I_A_ _

ANIMATA might work.

ANIMATO might. But how does it fit the clue?

Animato would be a boy's name. Animata would be a girl.

"Animate" means "alive" or "moving". "Animata", as a girl's name, would mean (approximately) "lively girl" and also looks kind of like an italianate directive "play in a lively manner".

I don't know if it will fit the puzzle, though. Agitata might fit, or it might be something else entirely. Any word ending in "a" would work for a girl's name.

[navneeth]

Animato would be a boy's name. Animata would be a girl.

"Animate" means "alive" or "moving". "Animata", as a girl's name, would mean (approximately) "lively girl" and also looks kind of like an italianate directive "play in a lively manner".

I don't know if it will fit the puzzle, though. Agitata might fit, or it might be something else entirely. Any word ending in "a" would work for a girl's name.

Hmm...I have a feeling that the word actually relates to music rather than a girl's name. As I said, AGITATO is a possibility.

Here's something from Dictionary.com...

ag·i·ta·to
adv. & adj. Music
In a restless, agitated style. Used chiefly as a direction.
[Italian, past participle of agitare, from Latin agitre, to agitate; see agitate.]

...and the Online OED (Under 'Agitato')

‘Agitated’; used in music to describe the mode or character of a movement; hence, adverbially, ‘in an agitated manner, with agitation, restlessly.’ Also transf. and as n.

Guess we have to wait till Monday morning (local) to find the answer.

[dai bread]

If the clue was 9 letters and included the initial "a" (a clad star) you'd get "cadastral", but if it's only 8 letters I'm as stumped as anyone.

As the puzzles come from an Indian paper, presumably the compiler would use Indian girl's names. "Agitato" seems to be what we're looking for, but I can't relate it to a girl.

[Andy Warton]

naveneeth, I just remembered that Allegra is a girl's name - are you sure you're sure about the I and the second A? Because of course "allegro" means lively.

[navneeth]

naveneeth, I just remembered that Allegra is a girl's name - are you sure you're sure about the I and the second A? Because of course "allegro" means lively.

14 Meet a job seeker? (9)

16 Give advance notice to Warren of change ( 8 )

These are the two clues from which the I and the A come. I'm sure about the second one - FOREWARN, and the first is most probably INTERVIEW. The first A is from a clue for a 5-letter word that says 'Beat it!'; I assumed that it's SCRAM.

[navneeth]

The solution's here...
http://www.hindu.com/2006/07/31/stories ... 450901.htm

dai, you were right. It is CADASTRAL. Guess I was fooled by the misprint (8 instead of 9) .