WoW: Smeuse
SMEUSE - small hole in a hedge used as a thoroughfare for animals. [Sussex dialect] A wombat smeuse would naturally outsize a bandicoot smuese.
WoW: Zoombomb
ZOOMBOMB - to trespass another's videochat - by design or accident. [Variation on 'photobomb'] No question, the most beloved zoombomb was performed by Marion, the four-year-old daughter of BBC interview, Robert Kelly, in 2017.
WoW: Blandscape
BLANDSCAPE - generic, lacklustre scenery, often occupied by tasteless public buildings or vanilla kit-homes [Bland/landscape hybrid] Shopping malls, office blocks and McMansions infest the modern blandscape.
WoW: Deuterogamist
DEUTEROGAMIST - someone who marries for a second time [From Greek deutero-, akin to Greek dein to lack, plus gameîn - to marry] Comedians call a deuerogamist an irrepressible optimist.
WoW: Spoilmonger
SPOILMONGER - person prone to disclosing key plot points in any film, book or TV series. [Modern variant within the -monger (or merchant) family.] Work colleagues take pains in avoiding the office's spoilmonger.
WoW: Immelmann
IMMELMANN - aerial manoeuvre comprising a half-loop, used to gain height while turning in the opposite direction [Named after Max Immelmann (1890–1916), German aviator of WWI who devised it.] Pigeons can perform an impromptu immelmann to elude a hawk.
WoW: Balkanise
BALKANISE - to subdivide a region into smaller, hostile states. [After the Balkan Peninsula's fracturing, following the Ottoman Empire.] One way to ensure more heat than light is to balkanise any caucus.
Huh 63
Eight more brain-curlers for you. These Times clues hide their secrets closely. While I can parse most in part, there remains some elements I'm still not grasping, needing your help to seal the deal.
What allusion has eluded me? Which nuance has missed my radar? And for those feeling extra-cluey, can you compile a rival clue for any of these eight solutions? Thanks in advance.
1. Fetch strong drink = DOUBLE [Times 11916]
2. Getting back, having left bed for cat = PUMA [same puzzle]
3. One shoe, not quite the pair, going with it = SABOT [11917]
4. Go off melon, maybe, unpleasant at first for the tongue = URDU [11940]
5. Do this after start to alarm and confuse = ADDLE
6. Statements to the press not allowed in Israel = HANDOUTS
7. Our lot, blue at the extremities, are freezing! = SUSPEND [11958]
8. In a sorry state, having failed to rise = SAD
WoW: Smaragd
SMARAGD [smah-RAG/d] - any trnaslucent green gem, especially the emerald. [From Greek smaragdos - emerald]. Dorothy, Toto and her three friends wended towards a city build of smaragd.
WoW: Mooreeffoc
MOOREEFFOC - the act of seeing something dull or familiar with fresh eyes [Dickens' coinage based on the mirrored letters of COFFEEROOM.] Biographer GK Chesterton noted this 'mooreeffoc' moment in Dickens' diaries, claiming how Dickens had the knack for seeing London anew.
WoW: Creance
CREANCE [cree-ONZE] - lightweight leash used to restrain a hawk or falcon during a training flight. [From French for faith, a shortening of peu de créance (‘of little faith’, suggesting a bird which is yet to be reliable] No hawk is spared the master's creance in its pilot flights.
WoW: Eszett
ESZETT [ess-ZAIRT] - the B-like symbol of German grammar - ß - that denotes a sharp-S in sound, as seen in Straße - otherwise strasse, or street. [Literally 'S-Z' in German, after its distinct sound] For an ach-hack, to create the eszett on the page, press the right 'alt' key and hit the s-key simultaneoußly.
WoW: Kotov syndrome
KOTOV SYNDROME - when a [chess] player thinks for a long time, only to make a blunder at the last minute. [Named in honour of Soviet chess grandmaster Alexander Kotov (1913-81), pictured, who put opponents under immense pressure.] Unless you can combine poise with brainpower, then your solving is prone to the Kotov syndrome.
WoW: Junoesque
JUNOESQUE [jew-NO-esk] queenly; regal; of an elegant statue. [After Juno - the Roman god of marriage, and queen of the gods.] Parisian models will often stand Junoesque at the catwalk's extreme.
WoW: Architourist
ARCHITOURIST - a traveller planning their itinerary around notable buildings and other structures [Hybrid of architecture and tourst] No architourist worth their salt would whine about an ABC tour of Europe: Another Bloody Cathedral.
WoW: Oobleck
OOBLECK - cornstarch-and-water mix used in chemistry classes to demonstrate the behaviour of non-Newtonian fluids. [Named after the sticky slime threatening the Kingdom of Didd in Dr Seuss's 1949 book, Bartholomew and the Oobleck.]
WoW: Negroni sbagliato
NEGRONI SBAGLIATO [nair-GROW-nee sbarg-LEE-ar-toh] - cocktail comprising Campari, sweet vermouth and prosecco [Literally 'wrong Negroni' in Italian after a Milan bar-owner added brut prosecco rather than gin to a client's Negroni.] Believe me, a Negroni sbagliato is a sippable piece of serendipity.
WoW: Sabrage
SABRAGE [SAY-bredge] - the act of opening a champagne bottle by quickly sliding a sword's dull edge down the neck [From German (dialect) Sabel - or sword] Who needs to pop a Veuve cork when sabrage is all the suaver?
WoW: Alphonse
ALPHONSE [al-FONCE] - the younger boyfriend of a wealthy or powerful older woman. [After the title character of Alexandre Dumas's 1872 novel, Monsieur Alphonse] One era's toyboy is another epoch's Alphonse.
WoW: Mateotechny
MATEOTECHNY [MAT-ee-oh-TEK-nee] - a futile or unprofitable field of research [Greek: vain art/science] Cynics might view cryptic crosswords as mateotechny, failing to see how rewording they can be.
Recent Comments