Introduction
I would agree with many of you who commented that
today's puzzle from Cox & Rathvon lies toward the more difficult end of the setters' spectrum. I did manage to complete it without resorting to outside help but I certainly spent as much time on the last few clues as I did on the rest of the puzzle combined.
Many thanks to Henry for having supplied the solution in the comments below (as well as the inspiration for the title of the post).
I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Signing off til next week — Falcon
Good morning Falcon and all crypto-solvers! beautiful day today in the GTA. Hope you're enjoying it too.
ReplyDeleteToday's offering from C&H puts you in the crosshairs of a difficult puzzle. First read through I had maybe 3 words. There's no shame in saying I consulted Google and the Thesaurus a lot today. Last one was the upper left corner, 8a. You'll need your thinking cap for sure.
And a few had me stymied with the parsing.
Well - good luck and I'll post the solution in a couple of days to give Falcon a break.
Henry
Hello Henry, Yes, the parsing caught me out a couple of times, but all-in-all a fun puzzle. Rainy weekend on Vancouver Island.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a bit more challenging today but solvable with persistence and good parsing. NW corner was almost all blank until the end. Chuckled at 9A:)
ReplyDeleteHello Falcon and all,
ReplyDeleteYes, tough for me, too, and fun to puzzle over. I agree about 9a - very cute; I just wish I'd been able to get it on my own (too bad I didn't take a hint from its partner 13a just below). I also liked 23a and got a kick out of the 4d anagram.
Hello Falcon and kindred spirits,
ReplyDeleteOverall a fun puzzle today. Really liked 9a although I must admit we have seen it before. Last one in for me was 23a - I kept thinking there was an anagram in there but no dice. I concur that some of the parsing was tricky.
Thank you for posting Falcon. Have a nice weekend everyone!
Cheers,
MG
Good morning to all!
ReplyDeleteHere is the solution to this week's Puzzle.
fyi, I am using '+' to indicate letters that are found in the clue.
ACROSS
8 A+(R)CANE
9 IMP|ROPER
10 PA({MP}+|ERE)D
11 RESENT (double definition)
12 C|HANG|E
13 W|RANG(L)ER
14 {CROSS (S)WORDS} WIT|H
18 {SET APART}*
21 A+[C(C|{OR}+D]
23 G-RATED (double definition)
24 E|{IN}+STEIN
25 {INNU(END)O}*
26 T(O)ASTY
DOWN
1 P(REACH)ER
2 DAM|PEN
3 NE(ARNE)SS (Thomas Arne was a British composer)
4 {L(I)E DOWN ON THE JOB}*
5 SPA(R)T|A+
6 {HO(O)SEGOW}* (any of the O's can be inserted)
7 BE(ANI)E (Ani DiFranco)
15 STAR|{T OUT}
16 DRAGNETS*
17 TO(RE IN)TO
19 _ER RAN D_ (hidden)
20 AR(DEN)T
22 CATNAP*
As always, hope this helps!
Henry